ESSA has over 20 years experience working on various climate change issues. These projects have combined the development of technical tools to predict climate change impacts with participatory methods to develop local capacity for adaptation. Our toolbox of technical tools includes simulation and conceptual models to both assess the vulnerability of ecosystems and local communities to climate change impacts, and to explore alternative strategies for mitigation and adaptation. To harness human creativity and energy in adaptation, we use a variety of softer tools, including methods to raise awareness of climate change with the public, workshops to envision alternative futures, and approaches that integrate socio-economic concerns into explorations of climate change scenarios. We carefully craft the appropriate mix of technical and facilitation approaches to suit each problem, building on three decades of experience in systems analysis and capacity development.
We are committed to providing our clients with the most up-to-date climate research, information systems, tools and techniques. Our goal is to help our clients better understand how climate change will affect their sector, service, or livelihood, and what they can do to mitigate harmful impacts.
Our services include:
- monitoring and evaluation for adaptation;
- developing decision support tools;
- conducting vulnerability assessments;
- modeling future resource and climate scenarios;
- modeling the effects of climate change on water resources and fish populations;
- carbon accounting, and carbon-based models for the forestry sector;
- participatory development of future scenarios;
- participatory planning to help local communities adapt to environmental, social and economic impacts; and
- raising awareness of climate change.
Selected Projects
- Studying the impacts of climate change on indigenous peoples in the Asia-Pacific Region.
- Compendium of tools for climate change vulnerability assessments.
- Monitoring and Evaluation Framework for the Climate Change Action Plan of the African Development Bank.
- Participatory Scenario Development for climate change adaptation in Bangladesh, Ghana and Mozambique, as part of the World Bank’s large multi-sectoral study on the Economics of Adaptation to Climate Change (EACC).
- Climate change adaptation planning for Northwest Skeena communities.
- Evaluating the vulnerability of freshwater habitats under various climate change scenarios in the Cariboo-Chilcotin region of BC.
- Assessing the impacts of climate change on Okanagan sockeye, applying the Fish and Water Management Tool (FWMT) system.
- A study on how to help Pacific salmon survive the impacts of climate change on freshwater habitats, completed for the Pacific Fisheries Resource Conservation Council (PFRCC).
- The Coastal Resource Information System (CRIS) in support of the Caribbean Planning for Adaptation to Climate Change (CPACC) project.
- The China-Canada Cooperation Project in Cleaner Production (CCCPCP). This project assisted the government of China in developing and implementing clean production policies, regulations and guidelines for key industrial sectors including oil and gas, pulp and paper, non-ferrous metals, fermentation, and fertilizer and pesticide production.
- Modelling forest response to climate change in US forests.
- The carbon budget of the Canadian forest sector.
Reports, publications and presentations
Hall, A. 2011. The GHG impacts of burning post-harvest debris piles on Vancouver Island. Presentation at the CONFOR 2011 Conference, Jasper, AB, February 4-5, 2011.
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ESSA Technologies and IISD. 2010. Participatory Scenario Development (PSD) Approaches for Pro-Poor Adaptation: Capacity Development Manual. Discussion Paper 19 prepared by ESSA Technologies Ltd. and the International Institute for Sustainable Development. Report submitted to the World Bank. 78 pp.
[PDF - off site]
IISD and ESSA Technologies Ltd. 2010. Participatory Scenario Development for Costing Climate Change Adaptation – Climate Visioning. Report of Mission to Vietnam 1 – 5 March 2010, Hanoi. Submitted to the World Bank by The International Institute for Sustainable Development. Report written by Livia Bizikova (IISD) and Carol Murray (ESSA Technologies Ltd.).
Nelitz, M., K. Wieckowski, M. Porter, K. Bryan, F. Poulsen, and D. Carr. 2010. Evaluating the vulnerability of freshwater fish habitats to climate change and identifying regional adaptation strategies in the Cariboo-Chilcotin. Report prepared for Fraser Salmon and Watersheds Program by ESSA Technologies Ltd.
Bizikova, L., S. Boardley, and S. Mead. 2009. Participatory Scenario Development for Costing Climate Change Adaptation – Climate Visioning SEL: 100018962. Prepared by ESSA Technologies Ltd., Vancouver, B.C. and International Institute for Sustainable Development, Winnipeg, Manitoba. Prepared for the World Bank, Economics of Adaptation to Climate Change (EACC) Study. December, 2009. 62 pp + Appendices.
See more publications, presentations and reports…
Contact
- For more information please contact: Carol Murray