Editing IPCC:AR6/WGII/Chapter-1 (section)

==== 1.2.1.2 Vulnerability ====

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'''Vulnerability''' is a component of risk, but also an important focus independently. Vulnerability in this report is defined as the propensity or predisposition to be adversely affected. It encompasses a variety of concepts and elements, including sensitivity or susceptibility to harm and lack of capacity to cope and adapt (see Annex II: Glossary). Over the past several decades, approaches to analysing and assessing vulnerability have evolved. An early emphasis on top-down, biophysical evaluation of vulnerability included—and often started with—exposure to climate hazards in assessing vulnerability. From this starting point, attention to bottom-up, social and contextual determinants of vulnerability, which often differ, has emerged, although this approach is incompletely applied or integrated across contexts ( [[#Bergstrand--2015|Bergstrand et al., 2015]] ; [[#Rufat--2015|Rufat et al., 2015]] ; [[#Spielman--2020|Spielman et al., 2020]] ; [[#Taberna--2020|Taberna et al., 2020]] ). Vulnerability is now widely understood to differ within communities and across societies, also changing through time (Kienberger et al., 2013; [[#Jurgilevich--2017|Jurgilevich et al., 2017]] ; see also Chapter 16). In the WGII AR6, assessment of the vulnerability of people and ecosystems encompasses the differing approaches that exist within the literature, both critiquing and harmonising them based on available evidence. In this context, '''exposure''' is defined as the presence of people; livelihoods; species or ecosystems; environmental functions, services, and resources; infrastructure; or economic, social, or cultural assets in places and settings that could be adversely affected (Annex II: Glossary). Potentially affected places and settings can be defined geographically, as well as more dynamically, for example through transmission or interconnections through markets or flows of people.

Vulnerability is also a link between the climate risk and disaster risk communities, recognising complementarities and differences between these communities. '''Disaster risk management''' is the set of processes that improve understanding of disaster risk, foster disaster risk reduction and transfer, and promote continuous improvement in disaster preparedness, response and recovery practices, increasing human security, well-being and sustainable development (see Annex II: Glossary). Climate risk and disaster risk are increasingly addressed together, bridging the climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction communities (e.g., [[#IPCC--2012|IPCC, 2012]] ; [[#UNDRR--2019|UNDRR, 2019]] , especially Chapter 13 in that report). Building on the scientific literature and adaptation and risk reduction practice, the IPCC Special Report on Extremes resulted in several major IPCC advances that continue through the present report, including emphasis on risk and climate-related extremes (e.g., [[#Burton--2012|Burton et al., 2012]] ; [[#Lavell--2012|Lavell et al., 2012]] ) and re-conceptualisation of vulnerability to encompass both social and biophysical orientations (i.e., bridging contextual/bottom-up and climate-driven/top-down approaches) ( [[#polsky--2007|Polsky et al., 2007]] ; [[#Cardona--2012|Cardona et al., 2012]] ). Linking disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation can also be an important basis for discussion in climate negotiations on the allocation of funds needed for tackling climate change, especially in developing countries and SIDS ( [[#Begum--2014|Begum et al., 2014]] ). The integration of disaster risk management and climate change adaptation in the IPCC AR6 is seen, for example, in the assessment of key risks within and across sectors and regions, along with global-scale reasons for concern, which is attuned to extreme events and disasters ( [[#Oppenheimer--2014|Oppenheimer et al., 2014]] ; see also Chapter 16). Additionally, the assessment of adaptation has prioritised these interconnections (e.g., [[#Mimura--2014|Mimura et al., 2014]] ), as have literature and practice especially in the context of sustainable development (e.g., [[#Schipper--2016|Schipper et al., 2016]] ).

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