Statistical measures for climate change adaptation: realities in urban settings and new geographies for agriculture - Year 2022

The consequences of Climate Change are increasingly tangible: all countries are exposed to it, and the severity of impacts varies across territories depending on meteo-climatic, geographic, and socio-economic conditions and related risk parameters (hazards, exposure, vulnerability). Mitigation strategies aimed at reducing the causes of climate-altering gas emissions must be complemented by adaptation measures of different matrix, aimed at reducing direct and associated impacts through the protection and strengthening of natural, economic and social systems, in accordance with the principle of Just Transition, i.e., processes aimed at the development of a system that respects the principle of environmental and economic sustainability, but is also just and inclusive.

Adaptation measures are needed at all levels, consistent with disaster risk reduction strategies-directly or indirectly induced by Climate Change or otherwise-and within the broader framework of Sustainable Development (UN Agenda 2030), with general action plans outlining the framework and specific action plans to consider local and spatial diversity. These include Nature-Based Solutions (NbS) based on strengthening natural systems, of which co-benefit the reduction of biodiversity loss and pollution.

The availability of statistical information is the knowledge base for defining actions and priorities to reduce the vulnerability of human and natural systems, to minimize damage and loss, and to prioritize prevention. Multiple areas of economic, social and environmental statistics can be considered in a connected ecosystem of data and statistical sources. Istat produces statistical measures relevant in the context of climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction, to be analyzed by considering synergies and cascading effects among phenomena.

International frameworks related to climate change and disaster hazards developed under UNECE and UNSD converge in the need to measure and monitor risk factors, direct and associated causes and impacts related to different hazards, the exposure of the elements present (human, natural, economic systems, infrastructure, etc.), their vulnerability, and the extent of potential loss and damage.

The area related to climate change adaptation represents a challenge but also an opportunity for official statistics. A number of indicators have been identified for this area in the frameworks mentioned above. More specific geographic and spatial analyses taking into account direct and associated risks from climate change are encouraged based on the risk conditions in each country, in a multi-risk perspective. The broad scope and linkage to climate change adaptation is not always straightforward, as it is the result of a concatenation of factors. The contribution of environmental and spatial data is relevant, in combination with social and economic data, to assess the vulnerabilities and resilience of territories and related systems.

Referring to the aforementioned international frameworks, this paper aims to provide some specific elements of analyses related also indirectly to Climate Change, in the area of impact and adaptation and related to two specific and distinct sectoral and territorial contexts:

• the urban context, which is severely affected by increases in air temperature, with critical heat conditions amplified by the microclimatic phenomenon called “Urban Heat Island” (UHI), which is dangerous for human health, especially for the weaker segments of the population;
• the agricultural sector, which faces the great challenge of the negative effects of Climate Change: climate zones that have shifted towards the Pole in recent decades in both hemispheres, changing temperature and precipitation patterns, increases in extreme events that threaten food security in many areas of the Planet, in an extremely dynamic and vulnerable context, given the concatenation of the climate, environmental, economic and geopolitical crisis. Some indicators from the 7th General Census of Agriculture are presented based on the spatial classification by Ecoregions.