Municipal advisory committees are becoming increasingly influential in guiding decision-making processes that address climatic issues. According to the Adaptigation Institutionalization Framework (included in the recent IPCC report), the implementation of such participatory structures is vital for the effective, joint institutionalization of climate change mitigation and adaptation. However, there is a lack of empirical evidence to support this claim. Against this background, this paper tests the Adaptigation Framework using the example of municipal advisory committees in Germany.

Air pollution and climate change are key global challenges for cities and both have large impacts on human health and economic development. Although there are many long term opportunities to address these issues with integrated policies, the immediate needs of addressing air pollution and climate change mitigation are not the same for all countries in the short run.

The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction encourages investment in innovation and technology development in disaster risk management. However, needs for science and technology inputs are unmet, and there is a lack of policy making that is based on science and evidence. This paper identified three key issues that could help overcome these barriers: networking, coproduction of knowledge, and a stronger role played by academia.

The “build back better” (BBB) approach to disaster recovery was first introduced in 2006 by the United Nations Secretary-General's Special Envoy for Tsunami Recovery, former US President William Clinton. In 2015, BBB became the second half of Priority 4 of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030, in recognition of its widespread use and adoption among disaster risk management practitioners, policy-makers, and researchers.

The UN has adopted the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (2015–2030; SFDRR) in March 2015 and the member countries agreed to shift from disaster management to disaster risk management. The SFDRR is in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs; September 2015). In 2016, the UNISDR together with partner organizations has prepared roadmap for mainstreaming Science and Technology in SFDRR. Out of four priority areas, this paper focuses on the appraisal of challenges in SFDRR priority 1 “understanding disaster risk” through the lens of science, technology and innovations.

This viewpoint reviews key assessments from the IPCC Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5 °C and examines the implications for the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (SFDRR). Disaster risks are expected to be higher at 1.5 °C and continue to increase at 2 °C. Current and future disaster risk management particularly those that deal with the impacts of coastal flooding, heat-related health impacts, sea level rise, and forest fires are to be strengthened, particularly the Arctic, Caribbean, SIDS and low-lying coastal areas are particularly at risk.

There is a wide array of biomass utilisation pathways to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. The characteristic of biomass, the demand for products, and the local constraints determine the sustainability of utilisation. Generic principles and criteria can be applied to the analysis of specific instances. This work develops a decision-making tool for determining the most sustainable use of biomass for carbon management.

Various studies have shown that maritime sector needs increased use of zero emission vessels in service by 2030 in order to achieve an absolute reduction in CO2 emissions of 50% by 2050 (consistent with a 2 °C pathway). These vessels, with operational emissions containing zero or negligible greenhouse gas share, would need to represent a significant portion of newbuilds from that point onwards.