Protection of a vulnerable coastal region

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has been helping countries achieve sustainable socio-economic and societal development for almost 60 years. Timor-Leste is one of the countries where they are addressing the root causes of the vulnerability of rural social and physical infrastructure. This is done under the Green Climate Fund project "Protecting rural communities and their physical assets from climate-induced disasters in Timor-Leste". They are also looking into the limited capacity to generate and use climate risk information.

The latter is what Antea Group is supporting the project with. We help assess and manage climate risks by improving the monitoring of climate risk information.

Our team ensures continuous development and improvement of its climate risk tools using advanced modelling techniques, artificial intelligence and high performance computing. We mapped 10 different climate and geo-risks for Timor-Leste and assessed the vulnerability of communities, infrastructure and ecosystems.

We significantly improved the accuracy of the climate risk information products by downscaling regional climate models and combining national data sources with remote sensing data and field surveys. We did this using a newly developed LoVRA (Local Vulnerability & Risk Assessment) methodology, which we use to estimate the vulnerability of people and communities. Using interviews and roundtable discussions, we were able to link that vulnerability to hazard maps for the various natural hazards. This mapped risks, which we made available on a dashboard with enhanced features to support adaptation planning. This way, we always kept self-reliance in mind.

Of course, we're not in this alone. We have the honour of leading a joint venture between our Brazilian partner EBD Global Optimum and the Indonesian Yayasan Humanis dan Inovasi Sosial, affiliated to Hivos. We also worked closely with UNDP field staff in Timor-Leste and locally designated entities for the Green Climate Fund, the State Secretary for Environment and the State Secretary for Civil Protection. Finally, several other stakeholders such as the Department of Meteorology (NDMG), the Institute of Petroleum and Geology (IPG), and the Ministry of Public Works (MoPW) participate in technical meetings, training or knowledge sharing.