Incorporating Ecosystem Services and Environmental Justice into Climate Risk Assessment: The Case of Valencia

Due to global change and the associated increase in climate hazards, the study of ecosystem services and their potential to reduce disaster risk has gained relevance in recent years. However, access to ecosystem services is not evenly distributed, leading to environmental injustice. Currently, there is no commonly accepted approach to simultaneously integrate ecosystem services and environmental justice into the risk assessment equation (risk = hazard × exposure × vulnerability). In this study, a framework was developed that integrates ecosystem service assessment into the vulnerability component using InVEST models, which was applied to the case study of Valencia, Spain. The approach applied here not only allowed visualising risk reduction through ecosystem services but also identified a robust synergy between heatwave and flood mitigation as well as mismatches between socioeconomic vulnerability and ecosystem service provision, with foreign residents being at a disadvantage in Valencia. The practical application of this framework in urban planning was shown by comparing the results of the risk assessment of the existing land use conditions with three hypothetical future scenarios. The results support the current municipal ambitions of urban greening in Valencia, while highlighting the need to consider socioeconomic vulnerability in decision-making.