Arup is collaborating with C40 to develop a classification of city-specific climate hazards to help cities reduce their climate risk.
The Taxonomy, which was launched for consultation in spring 2015, is designed to help cities as they encounter climate hazards, some of which they may have rarely, if ever, experienced before.
The Taxonomy classifies climate hazards into five key groups: meteorological, climatological, hydrological, geophysical, and biological.
The Taxonomy helps cities work together as effectively as possible by creating a shared terminology of city climate hazards to: drive best practice in city adaptation; enhance city-to-city exchange of tools and approaches; facilitate collection of robust data; and streamline city experience of accessing technical and financial assistance.
To inform the Taxonomy’s design and content, Arup completed a review of existing approaches to managing and characterising climate hazards used by city practitioners, the Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) community, and the climate science and policy community.
It is the first step in developing the Climate Change Risk Assessment Framework and Tool (CRAFT), an online reporting system and planning tool.
The project was supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies.