Climate actions
Climate impacts can be prevented when changing land use in a way that it positively affects the regional water balance, which influences the evapotranspiration process through infiltration, the soil water redistribution process, and surface roughness, which controls overland flow velocity and floodplain flow rates. Afforestation, forest transformation, sustaining wetlands, avoiding bare soil during precipitation season, modified vegetation cover, and introducing drought-/flood-tolerant crops can also reduce flood and drought risk. Measures to avoid exposure of valuable elements to risks generally involve zoning, building codes, such as minimum floor heights and water proofing, as well as land use permits. Policy support is needed in order to implement solutions, even if these may not be in line with existing policies. In addition, to be successful it is important that land use planning is adapted to the local situation and inserted within the functioning of environmental systems.
Integrated land use planning
Objective
Promote a use of soils that favors their resilience to climate change, limiting the negative impacts due to drought and floods.
Description
Expected results
Reduce the damage costs by excluding some activities from the risk areas and by providing compulsory conditions for development at locations with a given flood risk.
Result indicators
Area of protected land [m²]
Involved actors
Large range of actors and sectors such as housing, transportation, energy , environmental sectors; cooperation between national, regional and local levels of government.
Expected timeline for action
Best practices
Criticalities
Scope of the action
Type of proposed actions
Sector of action
Climate impacts
Implementation scale