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Adaptation by ribbon cutting: Time to understand where the scissors are kept
... Interest in capital works as an adaptation strategy is not limited to their suppliers. Donors who fund such works appreciate the symbolism of 'ribbon-cutting' as a means to show tangible commitments to adaptation, and funding such projects has far fewer transaction costs than, say, investing in universal primary education or health care (Kay, 2012). For the leaders of recipient governments, the scale of money increases the opportunity for rents of various kinds (Sweeney et al., 2011). ...
This progress report reviews research on climate change adaptation through a political economy lens, explaining the way ideas, institutions and interests enable diverse forms of adaptation practice. It reviews research on community-based adaptation, and spatial planning and investments in capital works for the purposes of adaptation. The analysis explains how practices that reduce vulnerability to climate change come into being, though it is as yet unclear if these existing political economies of adaptation are able to bring about the kind of (re)assembling of environments, technologies and practices over space and time necessary to sustain human needs and values through a dramatically changed climate.
... Sea-walls and levee banks, desalinisation plants, water transfer schemes, and land reclamation all feature heavily in the options for reducing exposure to climate risks (Florsheim and Dettinger, 2007;McEvoy and Wilder, 2012;Barnett et al., 2013;Malm, 2013). Despite being more prone to be maladaptive and unjust, such projects are favoured because they enable governments to visibly demonstrate a response to environmental change while avoiding more politically risky regulatory responses (for example, sea-walls are better than regulations that require progressive relocation of expensive coastal homes) (Cooper and McKenna, 2008;Kay, 2012). They also best satisfy the interests of capital: one only need follow the money to see that engineering solutions channel more money into the hands of a few firms, as compared to softer responses that may entail naturebased solutions, better land use planning, or new design codes and regulation (Barnett et al., 2013). ...
Though rarely described as such, vulnerability to climate change is fundamentally a matter of political economy. This progress report provides a reading of contemporary research on vulnerability to climate change through a political economic lens. It interprets the research as explaining the interplay between ideas about vulnerability, the institutions that create vulnerability, and those actors with interests in vulnerability. It highlights research that critiques the idea of vulnerability, and that demonstrates the agency of those at risk as they navigate the intersecting, multi-scalar and teleconnected institutions that shape their choices in adapting to climate change. The report also highlights research that is tracking the way powerful institutions and interests that create vulnerability are themselves adapting by appropriating the cause of the vulnerable, depoliticising the causes of vulnerability, and promoting innovations in finance and markets as solutions. In these ways, political and economic institutions are sustaining themselves and capitalising on the opportunities presented by climate change at the expense of those most at risk.
... While institutional factors are recognized to be decisive in constraining and enabling coastal adaptation, most work remains descriptive. There is a great need for dedicated social science research aimed at understanding institutional change and which institutional arrangements are effective in which socioeconomic and biophysical contexts (Kay, 2012; see also Sections 5.5.3, 5.5.4). ...
Ocean and cryosphere changes already impact Low-Lying Islands and Coasts (LLIC), including Small Island Developing States, with cascading and compounding risks. Disproportionately higher risks are expected in the course of the 21st century. Reinforcing the
findings of the IPCC Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5°C, vulnerable human communities, especially those in coral reef environments and polar regions, may exceed adaptation limits well before the end of this century and even in a low greenhouse gas
emission pathway (high confidence1). Depending on the effectiveness of 21st century mitigation and adaptation pathways under all emission scenarios, most of the low-lying regions around the world may face adaptation limits beyond 2100, due to the long-term
commitment of sea level rise (medium confidence).
... Under this approach, physical infrastructure was defined as any new or improved hard physical infrastructure aimed at providing direct or indirect protection from climate hazards (Biagini et al. 2014). Capital works based adaptation strategies share similarities with the concept described by Kay (2012) as ribbon cutting adaptation strategies that operate within short-term political cycles where the motivation behind those sponsoring the adaptation works is that they will personally benefit from the publicity associated with the project's launch. These ribbon cutting strategies manifest in a preference for capital works ahead of other adaptation interventions without new built physical outcomes such as ecosystem-based approaches. ...
From seawalls to levees and desalination plants to dams, capital works projects have become a widely accepted climate adaptation strategy in the coastal zone. With the reality of anthropogenic climate change and associated rising sea levels and an increase in the intensity of extreme weather events, there is a growing need for a range of adaptation interventions. The use of capital works for shoreline stabilisation has a long history and is an established engineering response to the protection of buildings and infrastructure from erosion or long term recession. While capital works often succeed in their primary objective of shoreline stabilisation to protect built assets from damage by erosion or inundation, by interrupting coastal processes they are often responsible for unintended consequences in other locations and at other times. In addition to these unintended consequences, case studies of New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina and Sendai prefecture during the 2010 Tokoku earthquake illustrate how the engineering design process, and particularly the need for a ‘design storm’, is a critical adaptation limit for capital works projects in the face of ongoing global climatic disruption. A key research problem is to identify the precise circumstances under which use of capital works is an appropriate and cost effective coastal climate change adaptation strategy, those where a soft-engineering approach that makes use of natural processes such as beach nourishment is preferable, and the situations where an ecosystem-based approach, that draws upon the ecosystem services of natural ecosystems to mitigate climate change impacts, is likely to be more cost effective or resilient.
... While institutional factors are recognized to be decisive in constraining and enabling coastal adaptation, most work remains descriptive. There is a great need for dedicated social science research aimed at understanding institutional change and which institutional arrangements are effective in which socioeconomic and biophysical contexts (Kay, 2012; see also Sections 5.5.3, 5.5.4). ...
Introduction This chapter presents an updated picture of the impacts, vulnerability, and adaptation of coastal systems and low-lying areas to climate change, with sea level rise perceived as the most important risk for human systems. Unlike the coastal chapter in the previous assessment (Fourth Assessment Report, AR4), materials pertinent to the oceans are not covered here but in two new ocean chapters (Chapters 6 and 30). As in AR4, polar coasts are in another chapter (Chapter 28); small islands are also considered separately (Chapter 29) so an in-depth discussion is not provided herein. The topics covered in this chapter follow the outline for sectoral chapters approved by the IPCC. An Executive Summary summarizes the key messages with a line of sight to the supporting sections in the chapter. This chapter consists of six sections, with this first section dealing with progress in knowledge from AR4 to AR5 (Fifth Assessment Report), scope of chapter, and new developments. Section 5.2 defines the coastal systems and climate and non-climate drivers. The coastal systems include both natural systems and human systems, and this division is generally followed throughout the chapter. The climate and non-climate drivers are assessed in Section 5.3, followed by the impacts, vulnerabilities, and risks in Section 5.4. Section 5.5 deals with adaptation and managing risks. Information gaps, data gaps, and research needs are assessed in Section 5.6. There is one box on a specific example and reference to three cross-chapter boxes. In AR4, the coastal chapter assessed the impact of climate change and a global sea level rise up to 0.59 m in the 2090s. The coastal systems were considered to be affected mainly by higher sea levels, increasing temperatures, changes in precipitation, larger storm surges, and increased ocean acidity. Human activities had continued to increase their pressure on the coasts with rapid urbanization in coastal areas and growth of megacities with consequences on coastal resources. Regionally, South, Southeast, and East Asia; Africa; and small islands were identified as most vulnerable.
Sea-level rise has become a front-and-centre policy and management challenge for governments, planners and coastal managers. Local government coastal adaptation responses to climate change impacts and sea-level rise is critical. The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the powerful role of social networks in the uptake of science in coastal decision-making. A case study is presented from metropolitan Adelaide, South Australia, to examine how an urban coastal development deemed susceptible to coastal hazards was approved. The social network that formed around the proposed development, with its informal connections and shared cultural values, influenced the decision which suited the needs of the network but did not align with provisions in state coastal protection policy. This paper provides an insight into the strategic capability of social networks and the case presented highlights the potential of social network analysis techniques to better understand the complexity of coastal decision-making processes.
In this article, the authors propose a new political economy of climate change and development in which explicit attention is given to the way that ideas, power and resources are conceptualised, negotiated and implemented by different groups at different scales. The climate change and development interface warrants such attention because of its importance to achieving sustainable poverty reduction outcomes, cross-sectoral nature, urgency and rapid emergence of international resource transfers, initiatives and governance architectures, and the frequent assumption of linear policymaking and apolitical, techno-managerial solutions to the climate change challenge.
Linking environmental sustainability with poverty reduction and social justice, and making science and technology work for the poor, have become central practical, political and moral challenges of our times. These must be met in a world of rapid, interconnected change in environments, societies and economies, and globalised, fragmented governance arrangements. Yet despite growing international attention and investment, policy attempts often fail. Why is this, and what can be done about it? How might we understand and address emergent threats from epidemic disease, or the challenges of water scarcity in dryland India? In the context of climate change, how might seed systems help African farmers meet their needs, and how might appropriate energy strategies be developed? This book lays out a new 'pathways approach' to address sustainability challenges such as these in today's dynamic world. Through an appreciation of dynamics, complexity, uncertainty, differing narratives and the values-based aims of sustainability, the pathways approach allows us to see how some approaches are dominant, even though they do not produce the desired results, and how to create successful alternative 'pathways' of responding to the challenges we face. As well as offering new ways of thinking about sustainability, the book also suggests a series of practical ways forward - in tools and methods, forms of political engagement, and styles of knowledge-making and communication. Throughout the book, the practicalities of the pathways approach are illustrated using four case studies: water in dryland India, agricultural seeds in Africa, responses to epidemic disease and energy systems/climate change. Published in association with the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). © M. Leach, I. Scoones and A. Stirling, 2010. All rights reserved.
Climate adaptation has become a pressing issue. Yet little attention has been paid to the consequences of adaptation policies and practices for sustainability. Recognition that not every adaptation to climate change is a good one has drawn attention to the need for sustainable adaptation strategies and measures that contribute to social justice and environmental integrity. This article presents four normative principles to guide responses to climate change and illustrates the significance of the ‘sustainable adaptation’ concept through case studies from diverse contexts. The principles are: first, recognize the context for vulnerability, including multiple stressors; second, acknowledge that differing values and interests affect adaptation outcomes; third, integrate local knowledge into adaptation responses; and fourth, consider potential feedbacks between local and global processes. We argue that fundamental societal transformations are required in order to achieve sustainable development pathways and avoid adaptation funding going into efforts that exacerbate vulnerability and contribute to rising emissions. Despite numerous challenges involved in achieving such change, we suggest that sustainable adaptation practices have the potential to address some of the shortcomings of conventional social and economic development pathways.
The traditional view of adaptation to climate change tends to assume that a national government is responsible for implementing technological adaptation measures (e.g., seeds, dams, irrigation schemes), which are selected on the basis of specific knowledge of future climate conditions. This view has been widely challenged but is still prevalent within sectors dominated by engineering, such as water and coastal management. The purpose of this chapter is to show that while technology has an important part to play in climate adaptation, its effectiveness relies on it being part of a broader strategy that acknowledges uncertainty and addresses the underlying drivers of people’s current and future vulnerability. Such a strategy requires the integration of adaptation with human and economic development efforts.
The need to mainstream adaptation to climate change into development planning and ongoing sectoral decision-making is increasingly recognised, and several bilateral and multilateral development agencies are starting to take an interest. Over the past years at least six development agencies have screened their project portfolios, generally with two goals in mind: (1) to ascertain the extent to which existing development projects already consider climate risks or address vulnerability to climate variability and change, and (2) to identify opportunities for incorporating climate change explicitly into future projects. As each portfolio screening was conducted independently, the broader lessons emerging from the screenings have not been systematically analysed. In this paper we assess the screening activities to date, focusing on both the results and the methods applied. Based on this assessment we identify opportunities for development agencies to expand their current focus on the links between climate and development. Most agencies already consider climate change as a real but uncertain threat to future development, but they have given less thought to how different development patterns might affect vulnerability to climate change. The screenings undertaken have shown the need to take a comprehensive approach to adaptation and its integration into development planning and sectoral decision-making, and a number of policy initiatives have been taken to promote such integration. We provide some initial guidance as to how portfolio screening can be carried out in a way that would allow agencies to assess systematically the relevance of climate change to their ongoing and planned development projects.
This article addresses the link between research on adaptation to climate change and the related policy environment in which it operates. Drawing on recent case studies under the Climate Change Adaptation in Africa (CCAA) programme, we show how unpacking of policy processes through analysis of narratives, actors and politics can help shed light on important policy challenges for adaptation. The case studies reveal competing views on adaptation problems and strategies as well as their associated actors and political interests. They also identify spaces that could provide opportunities for policy engagement and influence, and ways of bridging research-policy gaps to support adaptation. We argue that such analyses are critical in order to provide greater coherence between evidence from adaptation research and emerging government policies and strategies on climate change in developing countries.
In this piece we explore the interface between adaptation research and adaptation policy, planning, and investment. We ask, ‘How is research on adaptation informing the nascent domain of adaptation policy and practice?’ To inform this discussion, we extract a few of the more salient lessons from four different domains of adaptation research: risk assessment and impact response, social vulnerability and adaptive capacity, resilience, and the science of decision making and policy implementation. Through a few select case studies of adaptation planning, we explore the extent to which we see these lessons taking hold in adaptation practice. The cases reviewed suggest that there may be significant differences in the type of research that informs planning in more industrial contexts compared to the developing world. Risk assessment and cost/benefit analysis appear to dominate adaptation planning in the industrialized world, while insights concerning governance, the social and economic constraints to adaptation, and building systemic resilience are featured more in planning documents from the developing world. The focus on risk assessment and associated technological interventions in the industrialized world illustrates the difficulty of addressing underlying structural and cognitive barriers to change, as well as the policy implications of conceptualizing adaptation as an outcome rather than a dynamic process. More broadly, the challenge of adaptation now offers an opportunity for innovative and collaborative research in which networks of academics, policy makers, at‐risk populations, and other stakeholders actively participate in understanding the process of adaptation, experimenting in responses to change and learning from that process. WIREs Clim Change 2011 2 141–153 DOI: 10.1002/wcc.100
This article is categorized under: Vulnerability and Adaptation to Climate Change > Institutions for Adaptation
Social Status of Climate Change Knowledge > Knowledge and Practice
In this article, we argue that people's adjustments to multiple shocks and changes, such as conflict and drought, are intrinsically political processes that have uneven outcomes. Strengthening local adaptive capacity is a critical component of adapting to climate change. Based on fieldwork in two areas in Kenya, we investigate how people seek to access livelihood adjustment options and promote particular adaptation interests through forming social relations and political alliances to influence collective decision-making. First, we find that, in the face of drought and conflict, relations are formed among individuals, politicians, customary institutions, and government administration aimed at retaining or strengthening power bases in addition to securing material means of survival. Second, national economic and political structures and processes affect local adaptive capacity in fundamental ways, such as through the unequal allocation of resources across regions, development policy biased against pastoralism, and competition for elected political positions. Third, conflict is part and parcel of the adaptation process, not just an external factor inhibiting local adaptation strategies. Fourth, there are relative winners and losers of adaptation, but whether or not local adjustments to drought and conflict compound existing inequalities depends on power relations at multiple geographic scales that shape how conflicting interests are negotiated locally. Climate change adaptation policies are unlikely to be successful or minimize inequity unless the political dimensions of local adaptation are considered; however, existing power structures and conflicts of interests represent political obstacles to developing such policies.