Opportunities for knowledge co-production across the energy-food-water nexus: Making interdisciplinary approaches work for better climate decision making

The relationship between the energy-food-water nexus and the climate is non-linear, multi-sectoral and time sensitive, incorporating aspects of complexity and risk in climate related decision-making. This paper seeks to explore how knowledge co-production can help identify opportunities for building more effective, sustainable, inclusive and legitimate decision making processes on climate change. This would enable more resilient responses to climate risks impacting the nexus while increasing transparency, communication and trust among key actors. We do so by proposing the operationalization of an interdisciplinary approach of analysis applying the novel methodology developed in Howarth and Monasterolo (2016). Through a bottom-up, participative approach, we present results of five themed workshops organized in the UK (focusing on: shocks and hazards, infrastructure, local economy, governance and governments, finance and insurance) featuring 78 stakeholders from academia, government and industry. We present participant's perceptions of opportunities that can emerge from climate and weather shocks across the energy-food-water nexus. We explore opportunities offered by the development and deployment of a transdisciplinary approach of analysis within the nexus boundaries and we analyse their implications. Our analysis contributes to the current debate on how to shape global and local responses to climate change by reflecting on lessons learnt and best practice from cross-stakeholder and cross-sectorial engagement. In so doing, it helps inform a new generation of complex systems models to analyse climate change impact on the food-water-energy Nexus

Designing data driven persuasive games to address wicked problems such as climate change

This paper considers the increasing utilisation of games design as an approach to encouraging behavioural change through design. In particular it considers how to address issues that cannot be reduced to easily actionable personal goals such as climate change and are often termed ‘wicked problems’ by designers due to their innate complexity. This paper presents a research through design approach that focuses on rhetoric within the design of a mobile phone game - Cold Sun. Thus the aim is not to examine the utility or usability of the game but rather offer it as an example of a design approach we believe is desirable and productive for future practice. Cold Sun provides an example that illustrates how scientific and real world data can be integrated into game mechanics to enhance the rhetoric of the game by engaging the player at a more personal level. Thus Cold Sun allows players to effectively rehearse issues of climate change that will affect their plausible futures, and thus develop a greater understanding of some of these complex issues and consider ways to respond

The role and effectiveness of climate commissions in engaging the public on climate change in the UK

Against the backdrop of a fragmented and evolving governance landscape, this paper examines how effective climate commissions are in engaging the public to co-produce local climate action in the UK. Climate commissions are emerging amid heightened concerns regarding the top-down style of policymaking on climate change and resource-constrained local authorities. However, less is known about how they engage the public who are pivotal for climate action, both in signalling greater ambition from governments and through their own mitigation and adaptation efforts. This paper draws on qualitative interviews with an array of individuals both inside and outside climate commissions in the UK, and utilises Cash’s theoretical framework of ‘salience, legitimacy and credibility’ to assess how effective climate commissions are in engaging the public to co-produce local climate action. The findings indicate a discernible chasm between commissions and the broader public. Equally however, they provide hopeful perspectives into the effect that more collaborative engagement, that speaks to local concerns and leverages local knowledge, would have on commissions’ ‘salience, legitimacy and credibility’ and, additionally, the legitimacy of local authorities. Moreover, they suggest that deeper collaboration with local networks of community groups, who are not yet represented on commissions, could foster more sustained climate action. It concludes by considering the novel implications of these emergent insights for the Cash framework and what this means for commissions in their future engagement with the public

Exploring heat risk adaptation governance: a case study of the UK

Rising temperatures exacerbated by climate change are a growing concern in the UK. This paper assesses the state of heat risk governance in the country through an analysis of the Adverse Weather and Health Plan (AWHP) launched in 2023, which replaces the former Heatwave Plan (HWP) for England — the prominent policy for addressing heatwaves in the UK. Through 17 semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders, the paper assesses the perceived effectiveness of the new plan in addressing heat risk. The findings demonstrate that AWHP has been positively received and is considered to have well-functioning institutional arrangements and strategies tailored to manage immediate heat risks. However, areas for improvement are identified: the need to enhance public communication and broaden the cross-sectoral understanding of heat impacts beyond the domain of ‘health’. Further, the research reveals gaps in leadership, institutional structure, delineation of roles and responsibilities, and funding and resources for addressing long-term heat risk and preparedness in the UK. The paper explores these and highlights the need for strengthening governance and capacity to tackle the multi-dimensional climate risk, i.e., heat, effectively

Exploring the science—policy interface on climate change: the role of the IPCC in informing local decision-making in the UK

Building on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) review of how to make its Assessment Reports (ARs) more accessible in the future, the research reported here assesses the extent to which the ARs are a useful tool through which scientific advice informs local decision-making on climate change in the United Kingdom. Results from interviews with local policy representatives and three workshops with UK academics, practitioners and local decision makers are presented. Drawing on these data, we outline three key recommendations made by participants on how the IPCC ARs can be better utilized as a form of scientific advice to inform local decision-making on climate change. First, to provide more succinct summaries of the reports paying close attention to the language, content, clarity, context and length of these summaries; second, to better target and frame the reports from a local perspective to maximize engagement with local stakeholders; and third, to work with local decision makers to better understand how scientific advice on climate change is being incorporated in local decision-making. By adopting these, the IPCC would facilitate local decision-making on climate change and provide a systematic review of how its reports are being used locally. We discuss implications of these recommendations and their relevance to the wider debate within and outside the IPCC as to the most effective way the IPCC can more effectively tailor its products to user needs without endangering the robustness of its scientific findings. This article is published as part of a collection on scientific advice to governments

Enhancing heatwave resilience in the UK: insights and strategies from stakeholders

Heatwave events are on the rise in the UK and Europe, with projections indicating increased frequency, intensity, and persistence. Despite the escalating risk, responses and adaptation strategies are lagging behind, exacerbated by a lack of comprehensive understanding of heat-related risks and effective measures. This paper addresses this gap by employing a structured approach combining Forensic Disaster Analysis with Fuzzy Cognitive Mapping (FCM) to analyse the UK's response to the heatwaves of summer 2022 that claimed 3,000 lives. 38 stakeholders from various sectors involved in the response to these heatwaves were interviewed, and their cognitive maps were developed to capture local knowledge and perceptions regarding the causes, impacts, and actions taken before, during, and after the heatwaves. Through FCM analysis, cascading effects of heatwaves and factors amplifying negative impacts are identified, along with effective and missed mitigating measures. Moreover, the study compares heat risk perceptions among different stakeholder groups, highlighting important variations in perspectives, preferences, and priorities with implications for heat adaptation policy design. The findings contribute to enhancing understanding of heatwave risks and the actions that must be taken in preparation for future heatwaves in the UK, informing more robust and holistic policymaking for heat risk reduction

Assembling a coalition of climate change narratives on UK climate action: a focus on the city, countryside, community and home

Perceptions of climate change and associated risks are complex and require greater consideration of the context in which behaviours are formed and changed. People tend to create their own stories of climate change providing an opportunity to capture personal experiences and frame solutions accordingly through narratives. Engagement with the issue can be further enhanced when using topics that resonate with individuals, especially through place attachments and local interests. Positioning climate change around communities, cities, homes and the countryside, for example, resonates with certain audiences as action at these scales provides useful narratives through which to engage audiences and increase positive associations with resilient and low-carbon futures. Nevertheless, we show how engagement with these narratives is complex and may overlap or contest in some cases. We present findings from thirty semi-structured interviews conducted with academic, policy and practitioner communities in the United Kingdom (UK) which explored what sub-themes could be utilised to engage audiences on climate change through narratives focused around cities, the countryside, communities and the home. We identify 10 sub-themes ranging from technological change (homes), connecting people (communities), alternative infrastructures (countryside) and positive visions of identity (cities). In search of a coherent coalition of diverse interests in shaping climate change action, we discuss two cross-cutting themes on technology and social norms which emerge strongly across each of the sub-themes

Missing the target: are local climate targets aligned with national net zero ambitions?

Climate emergency declarations made by local governments often include targets to reach net zero emissions, but it is unclear how these targets contribute to national commitments to reduce emissions or whether these targets are achievable. At the national level, the UK has set the ambitious target to reduce emissions by 78% by 2035, however, the UK is currently not on track to reach its 4th and 5th Carbon budgets, let alone the 6th Carbon budget. Using a bottom-up emission reduction pathway based on local authority (LA) emissions reduction targets we find that the UK would achieve its 6th Carbon Budget and its 2030 Nationally Determined Contribution if local emissions targets are achieved. More importantly, the targets set by local authorities could be missed by 39% in 2030 and 18% in 2037 and the UK as a whole would still be able to meet its climate targets. We discuss these results in the context of the current division of responsibilities between the national and local governments, the potential for, and consequences of, a gap emerging between the emissions of different local authorities, the capacity of local governments to meet net zero targets and the absence of regional government in the UK. We conclude that polycentric modes of climate governance, as are emerging from Climate Commissions developed in Leeds, Belfast, Edinburgh and 16 other local authorities across the UK, may play a key role helping to fill capacity gaps at the local and regional levels