Page 29 - Module_9_en

Module

3. Examples of coping responses

Vulnerability of the area:
Abu Dhabi, UAE

5 Monitoring Vulnerability

An indicator is a single measure of a characteristic and an index is a composite measure of several
indicators or indices. Indicators and indices can be useful when guiding decision-making and prioritizing
intervention, as they allow for a comparison of characteristics (Downing and Ziervogel, 2004). However,

the vulnerability indicators must also account for the diverse socio-economic and environmental
situation within countries, regions and processes that shape vulnerability and available capacities.

Indicator development often begins with a conceptual framework, followed by the selection of
indicators based on a criteria of suitability. Indicator development is often an iterative process, where a
large number of environmental, socio-economic or sustainable development issues are narrowed down

in successive rounds of dialogue with stakeholders and experts to a few high-level measures. Figure 5
provides an example of the process used for indicator development in South Africa (IEA, Module 4).

Vulnerability can be monitored by identifying indicators and by creating indices that could both be
presented spatially and non-spatially.

Examples of indicators that could be used to assess vulnerability

Monitoring states, trends and exposure
? Frequency of natural events (Number of times for the incidence of floods, droughts and cyclones)

? Number of locations of wild fires and their intensities

? Number of consecutive days with precipitation/temperatures exceeding certain levels
? Number of frost days

IEA Training Manual Workshop for the National Reporting Toolkit (NRT) 27