Nick Simpson

National Climate Change Risk Assessment out now 👇🏽

Risk to current ecosystems VERY HIGH. Rick by 2050 VERY HIGH to SEVERE

Securing structural economic transformation in a climate-changed world In a world transformed by climate change, how can nations secure economic growth? This report explores how countries are building resilience and prosperity by diversifying their economies and leveragi...

Case studies: 🇪🇹 🇰🇪 🇯🇲 🇧🇩 🇰🇿
Link to full paper: odi.org/en/publicati...

with the brilliant colleagues at @odi.global @acdi.bsky.social - @jodiekeane.bsky.social, Nat Mason and Mark Miller
#ClimateRisk #Development #GreenTransition #GlobalSouth #ClimateJustice

Key ideas:
🌍 Climate impacts are already disrupting productive sectors
📉 Responses to climate change can “squeeze” vulnerable economies
📈 But a “green ease” is possible — with joined-up policy, fair finance, and inclusive trade

🧵 New paper out 📄
“Securing Structural Economic Transformation in a Climate-Changed World”

We explore how climate change is reshaping development pathways — not just through physical impacts, but also through the global response: trade rules, finance, and geopolitics.

How to apply:

Submit a single PDF with your application letter, CV, academic transcripts, a writing sample, and the email addresses of two references.

The application deadline is September 30, 2025.
#ClimateChange #Postdoc #Research #AI #UniversityOfCapeTown #ClimateAdaptation #AcademicJobs

We offer:
- A competitive tax-free fellowship of ZAR 450,000–600,000 per year for two years, with the possibility of extension.
- A vibrant research environment at a leading university in Africa.
- Opportunities for global collaboration and leadership in climate adaptation science.

We're looking for someone with:
- Experience in systematic reviews, meta-analysis, or evidence synthesis.
- A demonstrated ability to produce peer-reviewed research articles.
- Familiarity with AI/ML applications in research or environmental data analysis.

What you'll do:

- Lead global knowledge synthesis on climate change adaptation and risk.
- Use AI and machine learning to improve evidence synthesis.
- Lead high-impact publications and contribute to policy-relevant outputs.

Delighted to announce that we are recruiting multiple Postdoctoral Research Fellows to lead cutting-edge work at the intersection of climate change adaptation, AI, and global evidence synthesis.
@ascend-uct.bsky.social @acdi.bsky.social

🚨 Open Call for new Steering Committee Members 🚨

Are you working on #risks from #extremeEvents under #environmentalChange?

Join us as Risk KAN Steering Committee member for the upcoming term: www.risk-kan.org/about-riskka...

www.risk-kan.org

@futureearth.bsky.social @wcrpclimate.bsky.social.

And here is a podcast version: www.podbean.com/ew/pb-9pqm9-...

open.spotify.com/show/3u8zCUo...

Advances in complex climate change risk assessment for adaptation - npj Climate Action Recent advances in climate change risk assessment and management and their application across cities, coastal zones, and finance highlight promising opportunities for near-term action to better govern...

Read the full paper:
📄 Simpson et al. (2025) “Advances in complex climate change risk assessment for adaptation”
🔗 doi.org/10.1038/s441...
Let’s build adaptation that’s systemic, equitable, and feasible. [9/9]

What’s new?
We extend DAPP to DAPP-MR for multi-risk systems.
We link systemic risk modeling with adaptation feasibility.
We emphasize co-production, local knowledge, and fiscal realism. [8/9]

Equity & feasibility:
We outline 5 enablers for governing complex risks:

Equity in planning
Avoiding maladaptation
Actionable knowledge
Multi-disciplinary integration
Local feasibility assessment [7/9]

Finance & insurance:
Climate risks are reshaping sovereign debt, insurance markets, and fiscal resilience.
We propose fiscal stress testing and risk-layering to guide adaptation finance.
Case: Danube region multi-risk fiscal gap analysis. [6/9]

Coastal zones:
With billions at risk from sea-level rise, we need tools that prioritize infrastructure and visualize cascading failures.
Case: Sweden’s hydrometeorological resilience tool for regional planning. [5/9]

Cities:
Urban areas face interlinked risks.
We show how pathways planning and decision-making under deep uncertainty (DMDU) can guide flexible, equitable urban adaptation.
Case: New Zealand’s NCCRA & National Adaptation Plan. [4/9]

Key methods we explore:
🔹 Participatory modeling
🔹 Adaptation pathways (DAPP & DAPP-MR)
🔹 Systemic fiscal disaster risk modeling
🔹 Infrastructure interdependency mapping
These help navigate uncertainty and complexity. [3/9]

Why this matters:
Climate risks are increasingly compound, cascading, and systemic—crossing sectors, scales, and borders.
Traditional assessments fall short. We highlight methods that make risk governance more actionable. [2/9]

🧵 Advances in Complex Climate Risk Assessment for Adaptation
New comment in npj Climate Action with colleagues across IIASA, SEI, VU Amsterdam, UNU, and NZ.
We explore how cities, coasts, and finance can better govern cascading climate risks. [1/9]
@riskkan.bsky.social @acdi.bsky.social

We are proud to announce the release of HACA’s Position Paper, developed by Preserving Legacies in collaboration with heritage professionals and practitioners worldwide. | Preserving Legacies We are proud to announce the release of HACA’s Position Paper, developed by Preserving Legacies in collaboration with heritage professionals and practitioners worldwide. This paper provides targeted r...

Heritage Adapatation Indicators and the Global Goal on Adaptation.

Submision to UNFCCC
www.linkedin.com/posts/preser...

John Vaillant: Mark Carney should understand better than anyone why Canada is burning. Here’s how he can change course. Many reasons for our intense wildfire season are well-known. Our leaders need to do the math in order to save our economy - and us

“If we understand industrial CO2 as debt, then heat is the interest on that debt…we now find ourselves in the default zone.”
And here come the repo-men…
Another banger from @johnvaillant.bsky.social

www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...

Comparison of proportion of respondents in each country who have heard of climate change and believe the actor most responsible for limiting climate change is their own government, ordinary Africans, rich countries, or industry.

Most Africans place primary responsibility for climate action on their own government.

Our new paper in @natureportfolio.nature.com shows a further third see ordinary citizens as most responsible, while very few place responsibility on historical emitters that caused the climate crisis.

Most Africans place primary responsibility for climate action on their own government - Communications Earth & Environment About 45 percent of Africans believe their government is responsible for climate change action, and the least responsibility is attributed to countries and businesses with high greenhouse gas emission...

Open Access here: doi.org/10.1038/s432...
@acdi.bsky.social @talbotmandrews.bsky.social @afrobarometer.bsky.social

People gather to watch a cycling race in Muhanga, Rwanda. Credit: Alexey Stiop / Alamy Stock Photo

NEW – Survey: ‘Very few’ Africans place responsibility for climate action on ‘rich nations’ | @ayeshatandon.carbonbrief.org w/ comment from @nickzimson.bsky.social Dr Stella Nyambura Mbau, Dr Shehnaaz Moosa

Read here: buff.ly/CEnPXIB

I'm so thrilled to share our newest work on African climate attitudes, identifying who people believe is most responsible for addressing climate change (and what makes people more likely to place responsibility on historic emitters).

Most Africans place primary responsibility for climate action on their own government - Communications Earth & Environment About 45 percent of Africans believe their government is responsible for climate change action, and the least responsibility is attributed to countries and businesses with high greenhouse gas emission...

Open Access here: doi.org/10.1038/s432...
@acdi.bsky.social @talbotmandrews.bsky.social @afrobarometer.bsky.social

poverty alleviation and increased access to education, combined with professional frontline government bureaucracies can re-apportion citizen expectations of responsibility for climate action onto historical emitters and actors with more resources for scalable climate action

In regions with high levels of state professionalism, respondents are more likely to say that ordinary citizens can do something to address climate change. state professionalism is associated with citizens’ increased willingness to act and demand action from the state.

opportunity for change -> citizens who have access to resources and information are associated with support for climate action broadly, the empowerment of everyday Africans to act, and the recognition that historic emitters should play a larger role in climate action.