The impact of climate change upon coastal cities is often simply portrayed as a ‘battle against sea-level rise’ (SLR). While this is of real concern for Doha and other coastal settlements around the Gulf’s coastline, SLR will be but one of the probable impacts of climate change within the region. Aside from SLR, recent predictions also show, that there are likely to be more extreme weather events and an increase in annual temperature that could be several degrees above the increase in average annual world temperature predicted by the UNFCCC. Unless adaptive urban strategies are implemented this will greatly challenge human comfort and health in Qatar and the GCC region.

Like most other nations the resilience of Qatar’s existing building stock to withstand the shock of climate change is highly questionable and it is likely that significant upgrading and retrofitting will be required. Moreover, without such retrofitting works to the existing building stock, it is unlikely that Qatar will achieve the CO2 reductions it has pledged. A true appreciation of what these urgent adaptive strategies are and the effect that they will have upon Qatar’s built environment therefore is now critical.

An in depth understanding of these adaptive strategies necessary to deliver future resilient and sustainable urban environments in the region’s hot and arid climates, will be explored during this conference. Qatar Green Building Council (QGBC), together with the French Embassy in Qatar, and the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies (DIGS) have assembled a team of international and local experts who will provide important insights into both the science of climate change and the necessary adaptive strategies together with their effect on Qatar’s and the regions’ coastal cities.