Localizing Sustainable Development Goal 13 on Climate Action to Build Local Resilience to Floods in the Hunter Valley: A Literature Review

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

This is a well-written and structured paper that addresses a gap in the literature on SDG localisation, specifically in relation to SDG 13 on climate action in the Hunter Valley Region of Australia. The paper highlights the importance of localising the SDGs in order to address sustainable development challenges and acknowledges that there is a lack of research and guidance for local governments in this area. The analysis of the literature provides valuable insights into the strategies, challenges, and gaps in SDG localisation and the recommendations presented are research-based and practical.

Minor revisions:

It would be useful to provide a brief overview of the Hunter Valley Region and why SDG 13 on climate action is a key issue for the area.

Consider including some specific examples of pre-existing local policies that could be used to map the SDGs and their Targets in the Hunter Valley.

Consider clarifying the relationship between the SDGs and their Targets and the pre-existing local policies that are being recommended for mapping.

Author Response

• Thank you for this suggestion to provide a brief overview of the Hunter Valley. I have included these details. See beginning of background section on the Hunter Valley. See section 2. Background: The Hunter Valley, climate change floods and SDGs, line 105. 

• In response to comment 2, I have included a table of existing strategies to implement SDGs in the region to provide this context. Also, I have detailed the risk rating given in the existing emergency management plans locally to provide details on local flood risk to assist in localising floods.

Reviewer 2 Report

The paper presented literature review on SDG Goal 13 in context of development of localize resilience to floods due to climate change in Hunter valley. The google scholar citation from 1995 have been used in the analysis. You can add some more work prior to 1995 to see the process/concept used before this agenda by UN. 

Check for grammar. 

Author Response

• Thank you for this suggestion. While it would add more detail/ historical context for the evolution of the UN 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda, this is beyond the scope of this paper.
• Grammar and punctuation have been checked. See tracked changes in revised manuscript. 

Reviewer 3 Report

The article presents a literature review focused on the implementation of SDG 13 at the local level. The topic addressed by the paper is very interesting and, in general, it is well written. However, the main problem with it is that neither the title nor the conclusions correspond to the rest of the content of the article. Consequently, it is necessary to make some important changes in the article, or rather add information that is not included now.

First of all, it is necessary to include a specific section on the Hunter Valley, which helps to situate it (location, population, ...) and to understand how SDG13 can be implemented or has been implemented (existing risks that can be affected by climate change, adaptation or mitigation programs,...). This second part should be related to the literature review that is presented throughout the article and its discussion. Likewise, the Conclusions must be rewritten. The part of Australia must be part of one of the previous sections or have its own section, since it has not been mentioned at any time, and therefore cannot be included in the conclusions. It could join the Hunter Valley section or not, as the authors prefer.

In addition to this major change that will greatly improve the article, here is a list of minor changes.

Lines 46-47. The authors say that the SREX Report of (IPCC) (ref.8) states “that anticipated changes to rainfall and temperature patterns caused by global warming indicate that floods will occur more frequently”. This is not true. Along this report the IPCC insists that it is very difficult to know if floods are increasing due to climate change, since it is necessary to take into account changes in land use, as well as vulnerability, since many floods are estimated from the impacts. Please, modify this sentence or delete it. I would recommend the authors read the conclusions about this issue of the last IPCC WGII report (2022).

Lines 47-49. The fact that floods occur in a region in two consecutive years does not prove that it is a region highly exposed to climate change-induced high-rainfall flood events. Please, justify correctly why the Hunter Valley is very exposed to this change, and if there is any work that shows that in that region the intense rains will increase.

Lines 52-53. Exposure does not depend on climate change. Please, modify.

Lines 56-57. More information, including a map, about the Hunter Valley should be included in the paper.

Lines 119-149. It would be interesting to introduce a statistical analysis of the 52 papers by type and show some figures with the distribution, considering the objective or focus of each article or the challenges, for example. Those graphs would help to better understand the article, which is a bit confusing right now.

Lines 144-149. This information has been already included in the previous paragraph. Please, integrate the references in the previous one and delete the sentences between However….and [6,18].

Lines 154, 158, 237. Delete “Perry” and write Diprose et al.,

Line 170. Substitute ogSDGs by of SDGs.

Line 171. Replace Duah, Ahenkan, by Duah et al.,

Lines 233 and 273. Delete the comma before et al.

Line 235. It is SDG 13.

Lines 261 and 265. Decide if writing SDSN or sDSN. Could you explain in which countries or regions are implemented this network?

Line 292. Please, include the text of Target 13.1

Lines 294-300. There are numerous articles on flood risk reduction, but they are usually within the specific flood or risk literature. For example, there is an important collection of articles published in the context of the Panta Rhei decade, Hydrology and Society. However, the methodology followed in this article that imposes the Keyword SDG, has filtered those articles. You need to modify the conclusion on this aspect and I recommend that you look for one of these articles.

Lines 309-311. There are contributions that integrate climate change and the SDGs at the local level, but precisely they have little diffusion since they are published in national magazines. An example is the paper “Llasat, M.C., and M. Torres, 2021. The fight against climate change and towards the SDGs: inseparable paths. Special Issue “The 2030 Agenda as a blueprint” IDEES, n. 49, pp 1-9. Generalitat de Catalunya.” The last WGII AR6 (IPCC, 2022) also integrates climate change and SDGs.

Lines 348-355. This part should be moved to another section.

Author Response

See attached document with responses to reviewer comments. 

Author Response File: Author Response.docx