This primer is a guide for local governments in East Asia to help them understand the concepts and consequences of climate change and how climate change consequences contribute to urban vulnerabilities. It describes what is being done by city governments in East Asia and around the world to actively engage in learning, capacity building, and capital investment programmes for building sustainable, resilient communities.
The primer is also intended as an information resource for initiating a dialogue between local governments and their stakeholders. It uses a dual track approach to dealing with climate change impacts and disaster risk management issues – one focusing on mitigation programmes and the other on adaptation initiatives. It aims to provide a motivating step to move communities through a process that leads to both action and investment and emphasises that the mutual ability of cities to learn is enhanced by their ability to exchange experiences. Key points include:

with increasingly frequent and extreme climate change events,the most adverse impacts of climate change are likely to be in urban areas where people, resources, and infrastructure are concentrated
hydro-meteorological and other disasters affecting urban areas are a challenge to local officials and their communities in being prepared and proactive in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and future impacts
there are important linkages between sustainable development, climate change impacts, and disaster risk management issues that each city needs to confront
the responsibility of responding to climate change impacts and consequences will fall to city governments and their communities.