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Challenges for mainstreaming Ecosystem-based Adaptation into the international climate agenda
... For public sources, difficulties with obtaining finance are related to limited public finances and finances suitable for direction to NBS, decreasing or low staff and expertise, short-term decision-making cycles and crossover across governmental departments that are relevant to NBS projects (Toxopeus and Polzin, 2021;Bhattarai et al., 2021;Droste et al., 2017;Nalau et al., 2018;Khan and Amelie, 2015). Obtaining finance from the private sector is in turn complicated by the long-term nature of NBS investments, externalities in terms of knowledge spill-overs, and lack of funding specifically targeted for NBS (Toxopeus and Polzin, 2021;Nalau et al., 2018;Ojea, 2015). This means that citizens' contributions to NBS may serve as a suitable and necessary complementary source of NBS finance. ...
... The implementation of NBS, however, faces a number of barriers including the challenge of obtaining sufficient financial resources (Toxopeus and Polzin, 2021; Reducing the finance gap for nature-based solutions with time contributions 119 Nesshöver et al., 2017;Droste et al., 2017;Nalau et al., 2018;Ojea, 2015;Khan and Amelie, 2015). A substantial finance gap exists for the sustainable management of ecosystems and biodiversity and the ability to achieve related policy targets (e.g. ...
... Especially in developing countries, NBS projects are currently often donor driven due to limited financial resources and low priority from the government (Bhattarai et al., 2021;Khan and Amelie, 2015). Similarly, obtaining funding from companies is complicated by the long-term nature of NBS investments, externalities in terms of knowledge spill-overs, and lack of funding specifically targeted for NBS (Toxopeus and Polzin, 2021;Nalau et al., 2018;Ojea, 2015). Therefore, citizens' contributions to NBS may serve as a suitable complementary source for NBS finance, especially in developing countries where public finance availability is generally lower. ...
Environmental change poses an enormous threat, especially in low and middle income countries (LMICs). In this context, nature-based solutions (NBS) are increasingly gaining interest. However, NBS face a number of barriers, of which the challenge of obtaining sufficient financial resources is a major one. To guide investments towards NBS, there is a demand for economic analyses on the welfare effects of NBS. Since many NBS benefits are non-market by nature, stated preference (SP) studies serve as the most suitable valuation method to value NBS benefits. In SP studies, respondents are asked to make trade-offs between positive changes in ecosystem services and a payment. This payment is necessary for the calculation of willingness to pay (WTP) and is usually monetary, which may complicate trade-offs in LMICs due to generally lower income levels. In response to this, SP studies in LMICs increasingly employ time payments, which seem like a suitable alternative, but challenges and questions related to the use of time payments remain. The aim of this dissertation is to support the decision-making on the implementation and financing of NBS in LMICs. Therefore, we focus on how we can better capture the values of ecosystem services in lower income contexts by investigating methodological challenges related to the use of time payments and by applying time-based values in economic and financing analyses. We do so via discrete choice experiments (DCE) with both time and money payments that were implemented in four sites across rural and urban Ghana and Vietnam. In Chapter 2 we investigate how to convert time to monetary values based on the Vietnam case studies. In this chapter we advance on current conversion practices by applying six different conversion rates, including generic and individual-specific rates as well as wage and leisure rates. We identify that WTP estimates based on the time payments are substantially higher. Furthermore, we identify that time-based WTP estimates differ significantly across the different conversion rates. In Chapter 3 we continue to work on the time-to-money conversion rate, in this case based on the Ghanaian case studies. In this chapter we trial a non-wage-based conversion rate, an average market wage value, and an average sample-based earnings value. We test the underlying implicit assumptions related to the use of an average (market) wage value or leisure rate, which we refute. WTP estimates are again substantially higher when based on the time payments. In this chapter we furthermore also identify that market integration levels may allow for the convergence of WTP estimates from the different payment types. In Chapter 4 we conduct a cost-benefit analysis (CBA) of both a nature-based and an engineering solution to coastal erosion in the rural Ghanaian study site. In this CBA, we calculate the benefits of erosion prevention either by using the money-based or time-based WTP estimates. We find overall negative welfare effects for both solutions when money payments are applied, but positive welfare effects when time payments are applied. In Chapter 5 we focus on an alternative application of the time-based values, namely as a source of NBS financing. The results indicate that time contributions from households for the implementation and maintenance of NBS, which are often labour intensive, are motivated by social capital and coping appraisal. Furthermore, based on examples of the Vietnamese case studies we calculate that time contributions could cover 29% and 44% of the financial needs of the specified NBS. Based on the results presented in this dissertation we provide recommendations to research, practice and policy as well as suggestions for future research within and beyond the research focus of this dissertation.
... The implementation of NBS, however, faces a number of barriers including the challenge of obtaining sufficient financial resources (Toxopeus and Polzin, 2021;Nesshöver et al., 2017;Droste et al., 2017;Nalau et al., 2018;Ojea, 2015;Khan and Amelie, 2015). A substantial finance gap exists for the sustainable management of ecosystems and biodiversity and the ability to achieve related policy targets (e.g. ...
... Especially in developing countries, NBS projects are currently often donor driven due to limited financial resources and low priority from the government (Bhattarai et al., 2021;Khan and Amelie, 2015). Similarly, obtaining funding from companies is complicated by the long-term nature of NBS investments, externalities in terms of knowledge spill-overs, and lack of funding specifically targeted for NBS (Toxopeus and Polzin, 2021;Nalau et al., 2018;Ojea, 2015). Therefore, citizens' contributions to NBS may serve as a suitable complementary source for NBS finance, especially in developing countries where public finance availability is generally lower. ...
... In fact, by covering the labour requirements with freely provided community time contributions, the financial needs of the mangrove project would be reduced by 29% and those of the pond project would be reduced by 44%. These numbers indicate the potential of community time contributions to support lowering one of the key barriers of NBS, being the challenge to obtain sufficient funding (Toxopeus and Polzin, 2021;Nesshöver et al., 2017;Droste et al., 2017;Nalau et al., 2018;Ojea, 2015;Khan and Amelie, 2015). ...
Nature-based solutions (NBS) to climate change and other environmental challenges face a well-documented shortfall in financing and resource allocation. Economic evaluations of NBS that apply stated preference methods increasingly use time contributions instead of the traditionally used monetary contributions, especially in developing countries. These studies have focused on measuring the benefits of NBS and have not investigated the potential of freely provided community time contributions to reduce the financial needs of NBS. In this paper we investigate this potential through a systematic literature review and an analysis of four datasets from case studies in Ghana and Vietnam that apply similar questionnaires and discrete choice experiments with time contributions. We study a range of (de)motivating factors to contributing time to NBS and provide examples on the extent to which time contributions could reduce financial needs of NBS in developing countries. The results indicate that time contributions from households for the implementation and maintenance of NBS are motivated by social capital and coping appraisal. Time contribution schemes are therefore more likely to succeed in communities where social capital and coping appraisal are high and could be increased or maintained over time through the preservation and fostering of both these factors. The analysis also reveals that implementing time contributions would in general not lead to the exclusion of specific socio-demographic groups in society, such as lower income households. Finally, using two specific projects in Vietnam as examples, we calculate that time contributions can reduce 29% and 44% of the financial needs of NBS by covering the projects’ labour requirements. These results are of high importance to those working on NBS financing, awareness and behavior change campaigns, and practitioners that apply stated preference methods in developing countries.
... According to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) (2009), ecosystem-based adaptation is the use of biodiversity and ecosystem services as part of an overall adaptation strategy to help people to adapt to the adverse effects of climate change. Some scholars (Doswald et al., 2014;Ojea, 2015;Reid, 2016;Woroniecki, 2019) and adaptation practitioners (Perez et al., 2010;Lo, 2016) believe that EbA can enhance climate change adaptation, reduce social and environmental vulnerabilities, generate societal benefits (such as food security and climate regulation) in the context of climate change adaptation and therefore building resilience to climate change. However, there is still weak evidence showcasing the success of EbA interventions in many places where the concept is being adopted (Munroe et al., 2012;Doswald et al., 2014;Reid et al., 2019;Nanfuka et al., 2020). ...
... Although getting some traction, the role of local people who use their indigenous knowledge to study ecosystem response to climate change (Bremer et al., 2018;Garcia-del-Amo et al., 2020), and in particular, to use EbA as a strategy to respond to climate change is also still poorly understood (Ojea, 2015;Munroe et al., 2012;Doswald et al., 2014;Nalau et al., 2018;Reid et al., 2019). As a concept, ecosystem-based adaptation describes the use of biodiversity and ecosystem services by communities to adapt to climate change (CBD, 2009). ...
... The system creates opportunities for people to experiment with their own knowledge and to use their tested skills to govern resource exploitation as they observe changes in their local environment. This has potential to address the governance challenge highlighted by Ojea (2015). However, the threats to successful EbA initiatives in traditional settings revealed by this study are largely associated with the threats to the continuity of IKS that are documented in indigenous knowledge scholarship (Odora-Hoppers, 2002, Mutshinyalo and Siebert, 2010, Nganso et al., 2012. ...
Based on data on experienced ecosystem services of selected rural communities in Zimbabwe, this research adopts the millennium ecosystem assessment (MEA) and nature’s contribution to people (NCP) frameworks to understand the role of indigenous knowledge systems (IKS) in managing ecosystems and its potential in enhancing climate change responses. The study was motivated by the limited understanding about how indigenous communities are using ecosystems to adapt to climate change. A qualitative research paradigm involving focus group interactions with purposively selected respondents informed the case study. Results show that indigenous practices have significant conservation potential. The motivation behind ecosystem management
stems from recognition of diverse ecosystem services, which exist as: provisioning; regulatory and supporting; and spiritual and informative benefits. The participants attribute the perpetuation of these diverse benefits to keeping strong ties with their ancestors, a system that requires them to maintain their traditional ecosystem
conservation practices, which has fairly withstood exogenous pressures of colonial and post-colonial legacies in Zimbabwe. Many of these practices exist as local ways of adapting to climate change through ecosystem-based practices. Indigenous communities have a collective obligation to protect ecosystems, which are inhabited by the spirits, whom they believe have powers to influence the local climate system. These observations reverberate the critical role of indigenous communities in ecosystem management and shed more insights to the design of ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) interventions in communities endowed with rich indigenous forests and biodiversity.
... From an environmental perspective, climate change impacts can be seen in changes to ecological systems including phenology, loss of biodiversity and decreases to genetic diversity (CBD, 2009;Mooney et al., 2009;Walther et al., 2002), and EbA is an adaptation option centred on increasing resilience and potentially mitigating these outcomes (Andrade et al., 2011 (Chong, 2014;Ojea, 2015;Wamsler & Pauleit, 2016). The creation of these principles is a step forward in defining EbA, which improves tracking and monitoring as it gains interest and grows as an area of research and funding. ...
... EbA has many benefits and thus, there has been some research into making it scalable and how that process will work. Wamsler and Pauleit (2016) compared cases in Germany and Sweden and discovered that entry points for mainstreaming EbA were contextspecific, which is consistent with much of EbA literature (Geneletti & Zardo, 2016;Nalau et al., 2015;Ojea, 2015;Runhaar, Wilk, Persson, Uittenbroek, & Wamsler, 2018). ...
... The use of more explicit definitions was suggested, which is akin to conceptualising work on EbA (Scarano, 2017). Other barriers to mainstreaming EbA were lack of funding for biodiversity and ecosystem services on the international level (Ojea, 2015). ...
Considerable and measured action is required to minimise the considerable impacts that climate change will elicit on complex social and ecological systems. However, mitigation efforts are not enough to combat these increasing impacts and must move forward alongside climate change adaptation options for success in adapting to climate change. There is a growing understanding of the importance of more social and ecologically based responses to serve a range of adaptation needs, such as Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) which aims to create, maintain and restore vital ecosystems services that are relied upon by society. However, EbA is an emerging field and there is limited empirical data, but our understanding may be improved by utlising systematic and quantitative approaches. This thesis explores Ecosystem-based Adaptation as an emerging adaptation option that aims to balance social, ecological and climate considerations via bibliometric analysis and a Systematic Quantitative Literature Review of the current literature. Here, EbA and its limits are assessed as an adaptation option in addition to identifying dominant research actors, trends, and geographic distribution of the current research in order to enable more targeted research and application of EbA. There has been a strong focus on restoring, protecting or creating urban & agricultural ecosystems and watersheds suggesting the prioritisation of protecting food and accessibility to water. Institutional and financial socio-economic limits are relatively well established, yet the biophysical limits of ecosystems are rarely discussed. Overall, considerations of climate projections, traditional and local knowledge, and ecological principles were identified as key areas where knowledge and understanding could be consolidated to improve EbA. Consequently, there is a need for a robust and standardised framework to guide the planning and implementation of EbA given the multiple definitions, methods and parameters used in the EbA knowledge base.
... Many experiences from around the world have proclaimed the adaptation benefits of EbA across diverse fields, such as disaster risk reduction, water management, land management, food security, and livelihood diversification (Daigneault et al. 2016;Sebesvari et al. 2017;Taffarello et al. 2017;Tran and Brown 2019;Shah et al. 2019), which are all essential aspects of societal changes in a changing climate. While the evidence around the effectiveness of EbA remains a work in progress (Doswald et al. 2014;Newsham et al. 2018), several reviews of existing research have identified a number of governance and institutional challenges for the successful implementation of EbA, such as a lack of knowledge about local governance structures and coordination among multiple actors (Ojea 2015;Vignola et al. 2015;Lukasiewicz et al. 2016;Nalau et al. 2018), and participatory processes that engage local communities have been recommended to tackle such challenges for efficient EbA (Reid 2016). In contrast, little has been documented about the governance or institutional constraints in designing and implementing EbA interventions in mountains (Schumacher et al. 2018), although a few EbA efforts have been underway in the world's key mountain regions over the past decade (TMI 2016). ...
... Several existing reviews have identified the institutional challenges in implementing EbA in catchment-scale (Lukasiewicz et al. 2016) and agricultural practices (Ojea 2015) or qualitatively synthesized the literature on the kinds of constraints that hamper the use of EbA (Ojea 2015;Nalau et al. 2018). As a comparison, the challenges and lessons learned from the EbA implementation in Lamjung can be unfolded from the local implementation, national governance, and international cooperation perspectives, which is of practical reference to improving the EbA design and implementation in mountains in other countries. ...
... Several existing reviews have identified the institutional challenges in implementing EbA in catchment-scale (Lukasiewicz et al. 2016) and agricultural practices (Ojea 2015) or qualitatively synthesized the literature on the kinds of constraints that hamper the use of EbA (Ojea 2015;Nalau et al. 2018). As a comparison, the challenges and lessons learned from the EbA implementation in Lamjung can be unfolded from the local implementation, national governance, and international cooperation perspectives, which is of practical reference to improving the EbA design and implementation in mountains in other countries. ...
... Although pursuit of NBS is rapidly growing, these elements pose real risks that may limit broader adoption and successful implementation. Related challenges in Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) and climate change, often characterized as wicked socio-environmental problems, are well documented [15,16]. They emerge from the complexity and dynamic essence of social-ecological systems (SES), largely due to uncertainties in the behavior of natural systems, the number of stakeholders, large spatial scales, and long temporal scales. ...
... can promote creativity and learning [42] and incentivize ongoing participation. Although some posit that NBS can outperform other conventional interventions [3 ,21] once co-benefits are considered, full economic or social evaluations to argue for the cost-effectiveness of NBS have not been forthcoming [19,37], and benefit-cost analyses that explicitly compare NBS to other 'hard' measures remain rare [10,15,37,38 ]. Economic analyses of NBS require an understanding of ecological production functions and uncertainties and include benefits that typically accrue over longer time horizons than with conventional solutions [43]. ...
... NBS confront challenges common to other complex systems, which stem from social and ecological heterogeneities, connectivity and spatial flows, working across scales, and cross-domain feedbacks (e.g. between social and ecological domains) [23]. Scalar challenges include working across spatial and ecological scales [51], political boundaries [3 ], and social structures [32] and the delayed accrual of some benefits generates temporal mismatches regarding the timing of actions and outcomes [12,15,32]. The literature acknowledges the variation in size/type [52] and scales [53] of projects but there remains a lack of knowledge regarding the scale of activity necessary for social-environmental sustainability [51]. ...
Globally, rising seas, coastal erosion, extended dry periods, and flooding contribute to decreased water security and increased disaster incidence. Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) are increasingly advanced as innovative responses to promote adaptation and build resilience, and they are arguably more sustainable than traditional gray infrastructure. There is a growing body of information regarding the material, social, and technological advances that constitute NBS and the ways in which nature can complement traditional built infrastructure. However, critical gaps remain. Promoting a coupled systems approach, we explore fundamental challenges, including issues of participation and equity, economic valuation, scalar mismatches, the integration of natural and built infrastructure, and governance. NBS do not entail quick solutions, and to reach their full potential NBS require a fundamental rethinking of society's relationship with nature. Addresses
... Firstly, a failure to present ES research in ways that are salient, credible, legitimate or at scales useful for decision makers (Turner and Daily, 2008;Wright et al., 2017). Secondly, poor governance structures and limited public and business involvement (Guerry et al., 2015;Ojea, 2015). Thirdly, the long-term nature of nature-based solutions mismatching with short-term political agendas (Faehnle et al., 2015;Scott et al., 2017). ...
... More recently, Guerry et al. (2015) found that information failure is still preventing ES information from fundamentally changing decisionmaking across the world. As an example, Ojea (2015) reported issues of uncertainties around climate change and ES and how to measure their effectiveness limiting the mainstreaming of ecosystem-based adaptation into the international climate agenda. Foster et al. (2011) also reported that uncertainty surrounding ES provision is preventing its use in US municipal decisionmaking on urban climate adaptation. ...
... Guerry et al. (2015) also report a degree of institutional failure, suggesting that governments, businesses and civil society are not working together closely enough to ensure that ES are integrated into every day decision-making. Ojea (2015) similarly found evidence of poor governance structures, limited public participation and inappropriate financial mechanisms in the context of world-wide ecosystem-based adaptation. In the UK context, Matthews et al. (2015) also find that sociopolitical factors (including governance, funding and public involvement) are still poorly understood. ...
Urbanisation and a changing climate are leading to more frequent and severe, and less predictable, flood, extreme heat, and air pollution episodes in cities around the world. Green infrastructure can help mitigate these urban problems by providing regulating ecosystem services such as storm water attenuation, heat amelioration, and air purification. Despite this, nature based solutions are not yet mainstream in urban planning, local government budgets for tree planting and green space maintenance have declined worldwide, and the extent to which urban forests in particular are planned and managed with ecosystem services delivery in mind has not been researched. A possible way of increasing funding for the delivery of urban ecosystem services is through a targeted beneficiary pays model, i.e. a business- or citizen-financed ‘payments for ecosystem services’ scheme. However this potential funding mechanism has not been sufficiently researched in an urban context, and it is unclear how public values and uncertainty in the delivery of ecosystem services might be accounted for. This thesis uses a mixed methods approach with different stakeholder groups to help address these research gaps and inform local and national government decision-making.
The overarching aim of the thesis is to establish whether a public-private urban forest PES scheme could be a feasible approach for addressing the constraints to delivery of ES in cities. This research is presented via three separate, but related empirical chapters, using the UK as a case study. The first uses in-depth interviews with local government tree officers from 15 cities to identify the constraints and opportunities for enhancing provision of urban forest regulating ecosystem services. The second empirical chapter uses questionnaire-based interviews with 30 businesses of varying sizes and sectors from the city of Southampton to identify their motivations for, and conditions of involvement in, an urban forest payments for ecosystem services scheme. The third empirical chapter uses a discrete choice experiment with 362 Southampton citizens to determine their willingness-to-pay for urban forest ecosystem services, and specifically, whether this is affected by the uncertainty surrounding ecosystem services provision.
The core finding of this thesis is that a public-private partnership between local governments, businesses and citizens holds strong potential for improving both appreciation of, and financial support for, urban forests. The tree officers were keen to explore a beneficiary-pays approach, whilst both businesses and citizens were in support of contributing to the urban forest, particularly for air purification. However, despite the presence of moral motivations, most businesses would prefer to contribute on a voluntary basis for marketing and corporate social responsibility purposes. Moreover, citizen willingness-to-pay is higher when they are aware of urban forest ecosystem services and the uncertainties surrounding their provision, than when these benefits are seemingly assured, but poorly understood.
This thesis is the first known study to investigate: the integration of regulating ecosystem services into urban forest planning and management (outside of North America); the attitudes of businesses towards investing in urban forest ecosystem services; and whether providing information on the uncertainty surrounding provision of these services can increase willingness to pay amongst citizens. As a result, this thesis provides original insights into the potential for a beneficiary-funded urban forest payments for ecosystem services scheme, with implications both for government policy, and on-the-ground urban forest planning, management and governance.
... The need for science and policy integration for NBS to manage HMRs is being acknowledged worldwide. For example, the Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA) -2015(UNISDR, 2005 was an international agreement under the auspice of the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UN-ISDR) which aimed to reduce the loss of lives, economies and properties from natural hazards (Quevauviller and Gemmer, 2015) and thereby making nations and communities sustainable (Quevauviller, 2011). In the HFA, the lack of quantitative data made the monitoring progress of DRR difficult (UNISDR, 2011). ...
... In the HFA, the lack of quantitative data made the monitoring progress of DRR difficult (UNISDR, 2011). To address this issue, recently international policy agendas for DRR, such as Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (SFDRR) 2015-2030(UNISDR, 2015 and the Paris Agreement (UNFCCC, 2015) were introduced with further efforts to measure the DRR progress more effectively. The HFA had very little reference to any nature/ecosystem-based approaches for DRR as opposed to its successor SFDRR which was endorsed by the UN General Assembly following the 2015 third UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (WCDRR) with the goal of building the resilience of nations and communities to disasters. ...
... The origin of the mainstreaming concept has its roots in environmental policy framing (Van Asselt et al., 2015), specifically focusing on climate. In recent years, adaptation mainstreaming has become increasingly relevant and necessary for policy and practice (Ojea, 2015;Van Asselt et al., 2015;Wamsler and Pauleit, 2016;Wamsler et al., 2017;Runhaar et al., 2014). By expanding the focus from resisting or preventing hazards to a wider range of adaptation measures, it seeks to increase sustainability and resilience (Wamsler and Pauleit, 2016;Wamsler et al., 2017). ...
Nature-based solutions (NBS) are being promoted as adaptive measures against predicted increasing hydrometeorological hazards (HMHs), such as heatwaves and floods which have already caused significant loss of life and economic damage across the globe. However, the underpinning factors such as policy framework, end-users’ interests and participation for NBS design and operationalisation are yet to be established. We discuss the operationalisation and implementation processes of NBS by means of a novel concept of Open-Air Laboratories (OAL) for its wider acceptance. The design and implementation of environmentally, economically, technically and socio-culturally sustainable NBS require inter- and transdisciplinary approaches which could be achieved by fostering co-creation processes by engaging stakeholders across various sectors and levels, inspiring more effective use of skills, diverse knowledge, manpower and resources, and connecting and harmonising the adaptation aims. The OAL serves as a benchmark for NBS upscaling, replication and exploitation in policy-making process through monitoring by field measurement, evaluation by key performance indicators and building solid evidence on their short- and long-term multiple benefits in different climatic, environmental and socio-economic conditions, thereby alleviating the challenges of political resistance, financial barriers and lack of knowledge. We conclude that holistic management of HMHs by effective use of NBS can be achieved with standard compliant data for replicating and monitoring NBS in OALs, knowledge about policy silos and interaction between research communities and end-users. Further research is needed for multi-risk analysis of HMHs and inclusion of NBS into policy frameworks, adaptable at local, regional and national scales leading to modification in the prevalent guidelines related to HMHs. The findings of this work can be used for developing synergies between current policy frameworks, scientific research and practical implementation of NBS in Europe and beyond for its wider acceptance.
... Ecosystem-based adaptation: Ecosystem-based adaptation (EBA) can offer synergies with sustainable development (Morita and Matsumoto, 5 458 2015; Ojea, 2015;Szabo et al., 2015;Brink et al., 2016;Butt et al., 2016;Conservation International, 2016;Huq et al., 2017), although assessments remain difficult (see Chapter 4, Section 4.3.2.2) (Doswald et al., 2014). Examples include mangrove restoration reducing coastal vulnerability, protecting marine and terrestrial ecosystems, and increasing local food security, as well as watershed management reducing flood risks and improving water quality (Chong, 2014). ...
... In drylands, EBA practices, combined with community-based adaptation, have shown how to link adaptation with mitigation to improve livelihood conditions of poor farmers (Box 5.1). Synergistic developmental outcomes arise where EBA is cost effective, inclusive of indigenous and local knowledge and easily accessible by the poor (Ojea, 2015;Daigneault et al., 2016;Estrella et al., 2016). Payment for ecosystem services can provide incentives to land owners and natural resource managers to preserve environmental services with synergies with SDGs 1 and 13 (Arriagada et al., 2015), when implementation challenges are overcome (Calvet-Mir et al., 2015;Wegner, 2016;Chan et al., 2017). ...
... Payment for ecosystem services can provide incentives to land owners and natural resource managers to preserve environmental services with synergies with SDGs 1 and 13 (Arriagada et al., 2015), when implementation challenges are overcome (Calvet-Mir et al., 2015;Wegner, 2016;Chan et al., 2017). Trade-offs include loss of other economic land use types, tension between biodiversity and adaptation priorities, and conflicts over governance (Wamsler et al., 2014;Ojea, 2015). ...
... This is based on the premise that adaptation strategies need to address both ecosystems and livelihoods, given these are crucially intertwined and both under a threat from climate change (Munroe et al., 2012;Roberts et al., 2012;Vignola et al., 2013). Using natural processes and systems can help communities in adapting to climate change (Ojea, 2015;Reid, 2016) while simultaneously conserving biodiversity, which in turn results in increased well-being of communities (Roberts et al., 2012). ...
... Many documents do not offer clear examples on how EbA has been implemented in practice or explain the main constraining factors including the kinds of information needs that have arisen in the process (exceptions include Bourne et al., 2016;Roberts et al., 2012). Some of these issues have been noted in recent EbA-specific review papers focusing on Green infrastructure in cities (Demuzere et al., 2014); Mainstreaming of EbA (Ojea, 2015); Progress and challenges for EbA (Chong, 2014); EbA and forests (Pramova et al., 2012); EbA in Europe (Doswald and Osti, 2011); EbA in cities (Geneletti and Zardo, 2016), and conceptualisation of EbA (Milman and Jagannathan, 2017;Scarano, 2017). ...
... Lukasiewicz et al. (2016) in turn discuss that often restoration of degraded lands is not prioritised for funding, as the bulk of the money is spent on protecting existing biodiversity. Of the international adaptation finance available, only a small amount is dedicated to biodiversity and ecosystem services (Ojea, 2015). ...
... This is based on the premise that adaptation strategies need to address both ecosystems and livelihoods, given these are crucially intertwined and both under a threat from climate change (Munroe et al., 2012;Roberts et al., 2012;Vignola et al., 2013). Using natural processes and systems can help communities in adapting to climate change (Ojea, 2015;Reid, 2016) while simultaneously conserving biodiversity, which in turn results in increased well-being of communities (Roberts et al., 2012). ...
... Many documents do not offer clear examples on how EbA has been implemented in practice or explain the main constraining factors including the kinds of information needs that have arisen in the process (exceptions include Bourne et al., 2016;Roberts et al., 2012). Some of these issues have been noted in recent EbA-specific review papers focusing on Green infrastructure in cities (Demuzere et al., 2014); Mainstreaming of EbA (Ojea, 2015); Progress and challenges for EbA (Chong, 2014); EbA and forests (Pramova et al., 2012); EbA in Europe (Doswald and Osti, 2011); EbA in cities (Geneletti and Zardo, 2016), and conceptualisation of EbA (Milman and Jagannathan, 2017;Scarano, 2017). ...
... Lukasiewicz et al. (2016) in turn discuss that often restoration of degraded lands is not prioritised for funding, as the bulk of the money is spent on protecting existing biodiversity. Of the international adaptation finance available, only a small amount is dedicated to biodiversity and ecosystem services (Ojea, 2015). ...
... Esta nueva estrategia de adaptación que también contribuye a la mitigación del cambio climático consiste en utilizar la biodiversidad y los servicios ecosistémicos, integrando medidas de manejo sostenible, conservación de la biodiversidad y restauración de ecosistemas, para ayudar a las personas a adaptarse a los efectos adversos del cambio climático (CBD, 2009). Las medidas de AbE requieren investigación científica para llenar los vacíos de conocimiento sobre la eficacia, efectividad e impacto de estas en los ecosistemas y comunidades humanas, con el fin de demostrar su importancia y adicionarla efectivamente en la planificación y gestión ambiental costera (Lhumeau y Cordero, 2012;Ojea, 2015;Sierra-Correa y Cantera, 2015;Seddon et al., 2016). ...
... La RH como una acción de la restauración ecológica proporciona beneficios ambientales, económicos, sociales y culturales, como la conservación de flora y fauna, captura y almacenamiento de carbono en el suelo, protección costera de ciclones, oportunidades de empleo, entre otros servicios ecosistémicos, siendo una de las estrategias AbE más populares para ayudar a las personas a adaptarse a los efectos adversos del cambio climático (Lhumeau y Cordero, 2012;Seddon et al., 2016;Ojea, 2017;Scarano, 2017). Sin embargo, esta medida ha presentado desafíos para incorporarse efectivamente en la política y sustituir medidas de adaptación tradicionales, por aspectos de la gobernanza, eficacia y efectividad, la incorporación de escalas temporales a largo plazo, la búsqueda de formas de financiación efectiva, reducción de la incertidumbre en el cambio climático y la ciencia de los servicios ecosistémicos (Ojea, 2015;Reid et al., 2017). En este sentido, el papel de la investigación científica es fundamental para llenar los vacíos de conocimiento en relación con costo-beneficio y costo-efectividad de las medidas AbE, así como los impactos de las medidas AbE en los ecosistemas y comunidades humanas, el papel de los ecosistemas en la reducción de la vulnerabilidad de las sociedades frente al cambio climático y en reforzar las evidencias de los beneficios de la restauración ecológica como estrategia AbE para adicionarla de manera eficaz en la planificación y gestión ambiental costera (Lhumeau y Cordero, 2012;Sierra-Correa y Cantera, 2015;Reid et al., 2017). ...
The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of the hydrological rehabilitation (HR) implemented in the Dago-Ustria sector, to improve in the short term (<6 months) fish and mangrove habitat, as a climate change adaptation strategy based on ecosystems (EbA). Parameters of surface water quality, fish community and natural regeneration of the mangrove were measured before and after two and five months of HR. In the short term, HR significantly improved the physicochemical conditions of the habitat for fish and mangroves. Although the responses of the fish community and the density of mangrove seedlings at the time of this research were different in the intervened and monitored areas, they were not significant, therefore, longer monitoring time is required to clearly demonstrate the effect of the improvement of the water quality in channels and marsh and within the mangroves. The variables of water quality, natural regeneration, and fish community measured in this study are considered efficient for monitoring the success of HR in Cispata, due to the ease and low cost of the methods and community participation. The information generated in this study can be applied in mangrove management and their planning, as a measure of EbA under a climate change scenario.
... First introduced at the UNFCCC in 2008 (UNFCCC 2008), EbA spans many activities including the conservation, restoration, and sustainable management of ecosystem to deliver services that can reduce climate impacts and help people to adapt to the adverse effects of climate change. EbA has deep roots in long-standing approaches applied by local communities around the world (Ojea 2015). Adaptation efforts that incorporate EbA approaches can result in positive outcomes for both people and nature, as well as for climate mitigation (Mori, Furukawa, and Sasaki 2013). ...
... For its proponents, the multifunctionality of nature renders EbA a comprehensive and cost-effective approach comparing to traditional technical solutions and grey infrastructure (Brink et al. 2016;Chausson et al. 2020). EbA has been adopted by international organizations (e.g., UNFCCC and CBD) and institutions (e.g. the World Bank), although adaptation is still dominated by traditional measures (Ojea 2015;Wamsler 2015). At the same time, EbA has been critiqued for an overly utilitarian approach to nature (Chong 2014), and for its capacity to generate unintended and unexpected social and environmental outcomes, such as reproducing and even exacerbating social inequality and disrupting natural ecological process and ecosystems (Wakefield 2019). ...
Multiple visions for how urbanism can respond to the climate crisis and foster sustainability have emerged on the international agenda, including the ecocity, low-carbon city, smart city, and resilient city. These competing visions have been joined by one deploying “nature-based solutions.” We examine how nature-based solutions are emerging as a linchpin holding together the nature and climate agendas and what this means for where and by whom nature-based solutions are forming part of transnational urban governance. We argue that this field is animated by four frames connecting urban nature and climate: nature for resilience, nature for mitigation, the integrated benefits of nature, and nature first. Diverse actors, from conservation organizations to design firms to transnational municipal networks, draw on these frames and adopt new governance arrangements such that what it means to govern climate in the city is shifting. How this emerging nature–climate governance complex is structured will generate new momentum for governing urban nature over the coming decade.
... From the classification and characterization illustrated by Table 1, it can be observed that all but one case study meets the criteria of at least two out of the three defined classes used to frame the transformative effect. The most often observed class refers to the inherent novelty of the proposed solution for the respective region or resource Influence/spillover effect and replicability Support existing practices or create new ones adapted to the communities' intervention, and when businesses are involved, their buy-in is required Effective and synergistic use of urban interventions can solve existing urban problems and help achieve climate change adaptation, besides promoting incentives for others to act and having the potential to be replicated Biagini and Miller (2013), Ojea (2015) Dulal (2017), Brooks et al. (2014), and Reid and Schipper (2014) system. This latter finding is backed by the findings summarized in Table 3 in which a set of seven indicators -and the resulting key benefits derived from them -are listed. ...
... The success of TA may also be linked to the creation of so-called win-win interventions, that consider the need for sustainable livelihoods through either supporting existing practices or creating new ones adapted to community contexts; when businesses are involved, their buy-in is required (Biagini and Miller 2013;Ojea 2015). Turkey's case study shows how enhanced environmental sustainability and resource management were coupled with a high return on investment (costs for interventions were offset after just 6.8 months). ...
Many climate change responses focus on form rather than substance. As a result, they invariably look at the consequences but ignore the drivers of climate change. Since past approaches towards climate change adaptation have had limited success, the most effective and sustainable way to minimize future climate change impacts on humanity is through transformative adaptation (TA). This paper defines and characterizes the conceptual foundations of this term and outlines how TA influences current and future climate change adaptation challenges. This paper reviews the meaning and purpose of transformation in climate change adaptation and, by means of a set of case studies, explains how their commonalities can help define good TA practice. Deploying a range of situations, this study shows how this approach is being implemented in a set of countries, and considers its potential transformative impact, its benefits, and challenges. The results obtained have shown that when implemented with due care, TA can yield long-term benefits to local communities. The paper conclude by listing some measures by which TA may be further deployed as a means of helping communities to meet the future challenges posed by a changing climate.
... The emphasis on the integration of ecosystems through the multiple co-benefits that ecosystem services provide for other concerns, especially short-term development concerns, are also related to descriptions of current political systems and planning cycles as having tendencies to favor short-term objectives, notably economic growth, at the expense of long-term sustainability goals like ecosystem resilience (Govindarajulu 2014;Ojea 2015;Dymén and Langlais 2013;Serrao-Neumann et al. 2013;Hurlimann and March 2012). 54 It has been emphasized that the promotion of ecosystem-based adaptation creates opportunities to integrate long-term environmental sustainability with short-term concerns, such as economic growth objectives, through synergies (Dymén and Langlais 2013;Govindarajulu's 2014). ...
... Munang et al. 2013aMunang et al. , 2013bGovindarajulu 2014;Wilson and Piper 2008;Ojea 2015;Reyers et al. 2015;Sierra-Correa and Cantera Kintz 2015; Guerry et al. 2015). ...
By describing climate change as one of the greatest challenges of our time, the Swedish government has expressed a commitment to climate change adaptation as an integral part of the country’s sustainable development efforts. Sweden has also been portrayed as a frontrunner of climate policy and sustainable development. However, research and rankings describe even the ‘good example’ of Sweden as unsustainable, including its responses to climate change. Transformation is needed.
Based on the ‘what’s the problem represented to be?’ (WPR) approach, this thesis describes and problematizes conditions of ‘sustainability’ constituted through problem representations of governing climate change adaptation in Sweden. In addition, the study provides a discussion of alternative problem representations constituting conditions with new possibilities for transformation.
The empirical material for the analysis of current conditions in Sweden consists of policy documents as well as interviews with municipal and regional experts involved in promoting and implementing adaptation. I also analyze conditions constituted through problem representations in research. These are used as points of comparison for the problematization of conditions in Sweden.
My conclusions are that the current conditions of ‘sustainability’, constituted through the problem representations in Sweden, create a focus on advancing functional governance of adaptation as well as a focus on reducing marginalization of neglected sustainability concerns by integrating them with the current order of things. Problematizations of domination are largely absent. I argue that possibilities for transformation could be advanced by problematizing domination. Through problematizations of the current decentralization of responsibility, the integration imperative, and the primacy of economic growth over environmental and social dimensions of sustainability, I suggest ways in which this type of problematization could be facilitated.
... 8 Multiple regulatory, governance, financial, and technical factors hinder the adoption of nature-based solutions in flood risk mitigation programs. 9,10 The nascent interest in using naturebased solutions in the insurance industry highlights the importance of understanding the historical and cultural perspectives on risks, 5,11,12 with promising advances recently made in the context of coastal flooding. [13][14][15] Important technical barriers also remain, especially for riverine flooding, due to the challenge of quantifying the effectiveness and co-benefits of natural infrastructure. ...
... [13][14][15] Important technical barriers also remain, especially for riverine flooding, due to the challenge of quantifying the effectiveness and co-benefits of natural infrastructure. [8][9][10] Although quantitative benefit assessments are not always necessary or desirable-local or national stakeholders may favor alternative types of information to guide decisions 16,17 -they constitute an important component of economic and financial instruments, which are typically based on comparative evaluations of the effectiveness of nature-based solutions. ...
Undervaluing the protections natural ecosystems provide against flooding has detrimental impacts for society, particularly given the increase in flood hazard in the context of climate and land-use changes. Against this backdrop, we develop a framework to quantify these natural protections, even in settings with limited available data. By applying this framework to the Chindwin River basin, we find that forest cover has a significant impact on flood risk. Further, we find that nature-based solutions are most effective against small storms, but these are the largest contributors to overall flood impact because they are so frequent. The current focus on large flood events means that these important benefits are often obscured. Identifying and quantifying the benefits of natural ecosystems using the same metrics as those used to evaluate “gray” infrastructure can help mainstream nature-based solutions within planning practice, leading to more resilient and sustainable societies.
... In fact, as Frantzeskaki et al. (2019) [22] indicate, research on NBS is more focused on single case studies and their multiple benefits rather than on planning, governance, and other subjects related to their implementation [25,33]. In accordance with, Ojea et al. (2015) [54] addresses the poor governance structures as a key problem in the issue of ecosystem-based adaptation, and Kremer et al. (2016) [55] identifies the lack of articulation between science and policy as an essential barrier to embed ecosystem services in decision-making. ...
... In fact, as Frantzeskaki et al. (2019) [22] indicate, research on NBS is more focused on single case studies and their multiple benefits rather than on planning, governance, and other subjects related to their implementation [25,33]. In accordance with, Ojea et al. (2015) [54] addresses the poor governance structures as a key problem in the issue of ecosystem-based adaptation, and Kremer et al. (2016) [55] identifies the lack of articulation between science and policy as an essential barrier to embed ecosystem services in decision-making. ...
The European Union quickly incorporated the concept of nature based-solutions (NBS), becoming a key promotor. This was achieved through financial support for both academic research and city implementations. Still, the processes of institutionalization are yet to be fully explored. This study aims at assessing how the scientific literature regarding NBS is addressing institutional aspects and how it is constructing the NBS narrative. This research is divided into two stages. First, it undertakes a quantitative analysis of the discourse, considering a set of preselected search terms organized into five categories: Actor, institutional, planning, policy, and regulation. Second, it adopts a qualitative analysis considering both a group of the most cited articles and of articles highlighted in the previous stage. The results indicate that the NBS concept is still shadowed by other environmental concepts such as ecosystem services. Despite being an issue promoted at the European level, the results of this exercise express the lack of concrete planning and policy recommendations, reflected by the absence of terms such as “planning objectives”. This pattern occurs in all other major categories, being the institutional category the least mentioned of all five categories. The results highlight the need to address both policies and planning recommendations more concretely, studying the institutional arrangements able to promote NBS.
... Although the EbA lacks a specific methodological and conceptual framework, sees the people, their society and their culture as an integral part of ecosystems, linking the ecological systems and socio-cultural (Lhumeau and Cordero 2012). In Mexico, the EbA is increasingly integrated in institutional structures and has emerged as a multifunctional and efficient tool that promotes the reduction of the impacts of climate change on the lives and livelihoods (Munang et e -p r i n t , Wamsler et al 2014, Ojea 2015, Brink et al. 2016) and the security of peoples who are in a situation of vulnerability to climate change, as well as other environmental stressors. The principles of the EbA, have been taken up in this research, applied on study of the social perception, using an analysis of a different geographic scale, over effects of extreme weather events and the identification of anthropogenic hazards. ...
... EbA has emerged as an efficient and multifunctional tool that promotes the reduction of the impacts of changing climate on livelihood (Munang et al., 2013;Wamsler et al., 2014;Ojea, 2015). In Mexico, some governmental or non-governmental organizations want to incorporate this approach in studies of vulnerability and adaptation (Brink et al., 2016) particularly in regions of environmental vulnerability. ...
Well-conserved mangroves decrease vulnerability to extremes such as sea level rise and hurricanes. In Mexico, some inhabitants depend on mangrove environmental services. In La Encrucijada Biosphere Reserve, wetland connectivity is decreasing because of fires and human activities. Degradation was aggravated for the effects of hurricanes Paulina (1997) and Mitch (1998). The Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) approach was used to identify the local benefits provided by mangroves and increases their adaptive capacity to changing climate. To evaluated conservation status, the vegetation structure was monitoring by transects. The land cover change was assessing by remote sensing techniques and demographic statistics was used to evaluate local social vulnerability to weather extremes. The application of semi-structural interviews to local inhabitants and civil protection authorities indicated that 19.9% of the total area was changed, mostly mangroves and grassland to agriculture use. Perception surveys showed that inhabitants recognize the protection that mangroves provide against floods, intense winds and storm surges. Although 61% of the 162 persons surveyed are engaged in some conservation activity (managing mangrove nurseries and planting it in restored areas and avoiding the hunting of wildlife), communities have no full aware of the environmental services. This study is an example to local adaptation climate change initiatives and conservation strategies because could help inhabitants to recognize their capacities for develop their own well-being. Recommendations are made on the environmental management and the economic conversion of the villagers to reduce the social vulnerability of the region.
... Ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) is an effective and judicious management of ecosystems to enhance the resilience of social-ecological systems (Foden and Stuart 2009) or to adapt to the adverse effects of climate change (Colls et al. 2009). EbA is a potentially cost-efficient, comprehensive and multifunctional approach compared to the conventional measures (Munang et al. 2013;Ojea 2015;Brink et al. 2016), and it combines the measures that reduce poverty, protect or restore biodiversity and ecosystem services (Scarano 2017). Ecosystem services in adaptation will be effective only with community mobilization (Vignola et al. 2009). ...
Tropical inland capture fisheries are susceptible to a series of vulnerabilities such as habitat destruction, biodiversity loss, pollution, overfishing, invasive species and anthropogenic climate change. A comprehensive review of the impact of climatic uncertainties on Indian inland fisheries has not been adequately attempted yet. Recent approaches emphasizing ecosystem-based management in a regional context, specific to inland fisheries for combating climatic changes, have not been reported to date. The paper presents a critical bibliometric review of the climatic vulnerabilities faced by Indian inland fishery resources and various adaptive and mitigation strategies put forward by the country for the sustainability of the resources. In this communication , a systematic review of the impact of climate change and other stressors on various inland ecosystems of the subcontinent and the ecosystem-based management strategies adopted in India is presented and discussed.
... Te results of this study agree with the results of another study by Yeboah and Ameyaw [26], where communities adopted greenbelt establishment, planting food crops and trees, fghting bushfres, and indiscriminate chainsaws as climate change coping strategies. Te fndings of this study are similar to another study where respondents indicated a number of obstacles that hinder their ability to adapt to coping strategies such as lack of fnance and access to credit facilities, little knowledge of adaptation strategies, high cost or lack of labour, no access to land, and poor irrigation capabilities [48]. According to Yeboah and Ameyaw [26], the promised future income or derived benefts from an adaptation strategy were the main motivators for adoption by fringe communities. ...
Anthropogenic and climate-induced change can potentially impact negatively on direct dependents of forest ecosystem services. To help build resilient societies, we examined the vulnerability of ecosystem-dependent communities in the Worobong South Forest Reserve (WSFR). We also examined climate variability impacts on forests and further suggested ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) strategies for livelihood improvements in the study area. The reserve can be found in the Eastern region of Ghana. We administered 250 questionnaires as well as studied time series data for temperature and rainfall with satellite images using the mixed method approach. The types of questionnaires used were open-ended and closed-ended semistructured questionnaires. The study also involved a focus group discussion and the development of trend analysis of relationships between the two data sets in 2016. Our results show that respondents perceived variation in average annual temperature and rainfall over the past few decades as the main reasons for the decline in the supply of bush meat, freshwater, tree barks, and leaves in the study area. The results of the questionnaire corroborated those of the data for the time series obtained from the Ghana Meteorological Agency (GMeT) which is correlated with changes in the structure of (WSFR). To build resilient livelihoods and ecosystems, residents suggested strategies such as intensification of agroforestry systems with gain sharing arrangements, forest regulation enforcement, and bushfire control as ways to sustain the forests in the WSFR. We conclude that any measure to develop any climate change resilient mechanism in the WSFR should include those suggestions from residents.
... A number of scholars have suggested that many EbA projects do not contain the required level of participation, even though community involvement in adaptation projects has been widely stressed for many years (Nalau et al. 2018;Chong 2014;Ojea 2015;Munang et al. 2014). Here again, much opposition from involved communities can arise when land is taken away for EbA activities without their full consent or support, when compensatory structures are not sufficiently in place, where interventions are not considered participatory and where community knowledge and wishes are not taken into account. ...
Nature-based Solutions (NbS) to climate- and development-related challenges have recently gained attention in development cooperation. This Working Paper focuses on nature-based solutions to climate change adaptation, also known as Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA). It provides an overview of selected lessons learnt from EbA in the context of development cooperation, with a particular emphasis on the opportunities and risks regarding poverty alleviation and rights. The Working Paper seeks to generate learning for Danish development cooperation, but can also be read as a general discussion of experiences with EbA in the development context.
... In general, documentation of such approaches are very fragmented and scattered. The limited knowledge on the progress and effectiveness of EbA has been hindering the integration of the approach into policy and practice (Ojea 2015). In this context, this review aims to analyze the status of EbA, its types, types of disaster targeted and the progress made in HKH countries. ...
Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) has been gaining attention in science, policy and practice as an effective way to address climate change and contribute to sustainable development. In Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH), EbAs are implemented to enhance resilience of mountain communities to the harsh realities of climate change. However, very little documentation exists on nature and progress of EbA in the region, which are often fragmented and scattered. We analyzed the status, progress, benefits and challenges in EbA implementation. EbAs are focused on restoration (17%), mainstreaming in policy and plans (17%), ecosystem conservation (14%), flood risk management (12%), livelihoods (10%), capacity building (10%) and ecological risks assessment (7%). Though EbA varies across the countries, ecosystem conservation and livelihoods diversification is the focus. Major drivers of changes considered are climate change, floods, drought and landslides. Improved resilience through restoration, capacity building, better networking and better wellbeing are some of the notable benefits. However, awareness and mainstreaming of EbA in policies and plans are limited. Limited cooperation among the countries and stakeholders and short-lived donor-driven agendas are also the challenges. An effective and impactful EbA requires an integrated approach encompassing different sectors with vertical and horizontal cooperation and collaboration at the regional scale.
... An important aspect entrepreneurs have to face concerns the sustainability transition from dirty technology (high-carbon activity) to cleaner production (low-carbon activities), as discussed in Scarano 2017). As described in the literature, it is relevant to consider the climate change impact (Pant et al. 2015;Rael et al. 2016;Munang et al. 2013;Mathevet et al. 2016;de Castro et al. 2016;Rogge and Reichardt 2016;Ponisio and Kremen 2016;Hess 2014;Smith and Stirling 2010;Biagini et al. 2014;Ojea 2015). ...
... The emergence of new research topics can be linked to global policy agendas, scientific advances and increase attention paid by global funding bodies and organisations to the issue of adaptation. For example, concepts such as ecosystem-based adaptation crossed over from Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in 2009 to gain more prominence in climate change and now form an important focus within adaptation science (Noble, 2019;Ojea, 2015), with strong linkages to urban settings. New climate funds, such as the Adaptation Fund and Green Climate Fund, and increased availability of climate finance overall have generated also new research needs under the UNFCCC (Schipper and Burton, 2009) while connecting the adaptation science community more closely to adaptation practice. ...
Research on climate change adaptation has increased in number and significance since the 1970s. Yet, the volume of information on adaptation is now difficult to manage given its vast scope and spread across journals, institutions, disciplines and themes. While an increasing number of researchers have used systematic literature reviews to analyse particular themes within this rapidly growing field of research, there is still missing an overall analysis of the current state of climate change adaptation science literature and its evolution. This paper fills this gap by providing a multifaceted bibliometric review of climate change adaptation science literature that is focused on the human dimensions and how it has been constructed across time, disciplines, social relationships and geographies. Our novel review, spanning from 1978 to mid-2020, identifies the underpinning foundations of climate change adaptation literature, leading authors, countries and organisations as well as dominant research themes and priorities and explores how these have changed over time. Our results show an annual average increase of 28.5% in climate change adaptation publications, with over 26,000 authors publishing on this topic, and increasing diversity in publishing sources. Priority research topics and themes have been dynamic over time, while some core concepts (vulnerability, resilience, adaptive capacity) and sectors (water, agriculture) have remained relatively stable. The key challenge going forward is how to consolidate this vast research endeavour into a more coherent adaptation theory that in turn can better guide science of adaptation and support adaptation policy and practice (science for adaptation).
... La coordinación fomentaría las sinergias entre la productividad agrícola y los objetivos climáticos mundiales. En otras palabras, se necesita un cambio transformador en las políticas actuales (incluyendo la coordinación sobre el terreno de la adaptación) y las intervenciones de mitigación para promover la agricultura sostenible (Harvey et al., 2014;Ojea, 2015;Vignola et al., 2015) . Los gobiernos de ALC deben priorizar la implementación de la AbE como un componente importante de la adaptación al cambio climático en la agricultura, dados los diversos beneficios colaterales asociados y la oportunidad de lograr múltiples objetivos (por ejemplo, adaptación, conservación de la biodiversidad y diversidad de fuentes de ingresos). ...
ABSTRACT
The Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) region enjoys an exuberant natural wealth; with
16 percent of the planet’s land, the region is home to 40 percent of the world’s biological diversity. This report investigates and provides a good overview of the region’s efforts to mainstream natural capital and biodiversity concerns into public policy. It also provides a series of policy tools and instruments: payments for ecosystems services, innovation in managing protected areas, conservation trust funds, nature-based solutions for infrastructure, small-scale sustainable fisheries management, natural capital and ecosystem accounting, and ecosystem-based adaptation in agriculture. Two key lessons emerge from this report. First, mainstreaming natural capital and biodiversity considerations into day-to-day activities inevitably requires the involvement of multiple stakeholders (from communities to private firms) that should become central players in constructing and governing LAC’s natural wealth. Still, all the tools described in this report share a common feature: strong endorsement and support from government institutions, well beyond environmental authorities. Second, the lessons derived from policy tools with a longer history are evidence of the constant political, financial, and technical challen ges faced by these policies for long-term sustainability. Although some of the policy tools described in this report have a long history, none of them can take their survival for granted. Solving the financial and technical challenges is typically the only functioning strategy to deal with political issues. The report suggests a series of key enabling
conditions that facilitate mainstreaming natural capital and biodiversity considerations into public policy.
... La coordinación fomentaría las sinergias entre la productividad agrícola y los objetivos climáticos mundiales. En otras palabras, se necesita un cambio transformador en las políticas actuales (incluyendo la coordinación sobre el terreno de la adaptación) y las intervenciones de mitigación para promover la agricultura sostenible (Harvey et al., 2014;Ojea, 2015;Vignola et al., 2015) . Los gobiernos de ALC deben priorizar la implementación de la AbE como un componente importante de la adaptación al cambio climático en la agricultura, dados los diversos beneficios colaterales asociados y la oportunidad de lograr múltiples objetivos (por ejemplo, adaptación, conservación de la biodiversidad y diversidad de fuentes de ingresos). ...
The Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) region enjoys an exuberant natural wealth; with 16 percent of the planets land, the region is home to 40 percent of the worlds biological diversity. This report investigates and provides a good overview of the regions efforts to mainstream natural capital and biodiversity concerns into public policy. It also provides a series of policy tools and instruments:payments for ecosystems services, innovation in managing protected areas, conservation trust funds, nature-based solutions for infrastructure, small-scale sustainable fisheries management, natural capital and ecosystem accounting, and ecosystem-based adaptation in agriculture. Two key lessons emerge from this report. First, mainstreaming natural capital and biodiversity considerations into day-to-day activities inevitably requires the involvement of multiple stakeholders (from communities to private firms) that should become central players in constructing and governing LACs natural wealth. Still, all the tools described in this report share a common feature: strong endorsement and support from government institutions, well beyond environmental authorities. Second, the lessons derived from policy tools with a longer history are evidence of the constant political, financial, and technical challenges faced by these policies for long-term sustainability. Although some of the policy tools described in this report have a long history, none of them can take their survival for granted. Solving the financial and technical challenges is typically the only functioning strategy to deal with political issues. The report suggests a series of key enabling conditions that facilitate mainstreaming natural capital and biodiversity considerations into public policy.
... An important aspect entrepreneurs have to face concerns the sustainability transition from dirty technology (high-carbon activity) to cleaner production (low-carbon activities), as discussed in Scarano 2017). As described in the literature, it is relevant to consider the climate change impact (Pant et al., 2015;Rael et al. 2016;Munang et al., 2013;Mathevet et al., 2016;Castro et al., 2016;Rogge and Reichardt, 2016;Ponisio and Kremen, 2016;Hess, 2014;Smith and Stirling, 2010;Biagini et al., 2014;Ojea, 2015). ...
This entry aims to clarify the state of scalability process to promote and guarantee the sustainable development in the world. The organization of the chapter is as follows: firstly, the notion of scalability is introduced in the business model context. The objective of this section is to provide a background of the various concepts used generally. Second, the scalability concept is presented in terms of economic sustainable development. Third, the sustainability issues are described. Finally, the insights for future research are evidenced in the last section.
... There is a need to incorporate coastal ecosystems in local government climate vulnerability assessments and adaptation plans as part of the broader societal adaptation process (Mawdsley et al., 2009;Runting et al., 2017). This will prevent loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services while helping communities adapt to climate change (Ojea, 2015;Reid, 2016) and promote a shift from infrastructure to ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) -defined as 'the use of biodiversity and ecosystem services to help people adapt to the adverse effects of climate change as part of an overall adaptation strategy' (CBD, 2009) -as a way of preparing coastlines for climate change (Jones et al., 2012). ...
Incorporating coastal ecosystems in climate adaptation planning is needed to maintain the well-being of both natural and human systems. Our vulnerability study uses a multidisciplinary approach to evaluate climate change vulnerability of an urbanized coastal community that could serve as a model approach for communities worldwide, particularly in similar Mediterranean climates. We synthesize projected changes in climate, coastal erosion and flooding, watershed runoff and impacts to two important coastal ecosystems, sandy beaches and coastal salt marshes. Using downscaled climate models along with other regional models, we find that temperature, extreme heat events, and sea level are expected to increase in the future, along with more intense rainfall events, despite a negligible change in annual rainfall. Consequently, more droughts are expected but the magnitude of larger flood events will increase. Associated with the continuing rise of mean sea level, extreme coastal water levels will occur with increasingly greater magnitudes and frequency. Severe flooding will occur for both natural (wetlands, beaches) and built environments (airport, harbor, freeway, and residential areas). Adaptation actions can reduce the impact of rising sea level, which will cause losses of sandy beach zones and salt marsh habitats that support the highest biodiversity in these ecosystems, including regionally rare and endangered species, with substantial impacts occurring by 2050. Providing for inland transgression of coastal habitats, effective sediment management, reduced beach grooming and removal of shoreline armoring are adaptations that would help maintain coastal ecosystems and the beneficial services they provide.
... Ecosystem-based approaches (e.g., UNEP 2011) arose to partially address some of the problems derived from sectoral perspectives. They consist of a set of principles and steps focused on the interactions among subsystems to solve conflicts of interests, and introduce adaptive management as a novelty (Meffe 2002;Ojea 2015;Long et al. 2015). However, they lack of a sounder epistemological and pragmatic change related to the ways we conceive the socialecological systems, co-production of knowledge and co-management (see below). ...
The social-ecological systems (SES) perspective stems from the need to rethink the ways humans relate to the environment, given the evidence that conventional conservation and management approaches are often ineffective in dealing with complex socio-environmental problems. The SES approach conceives non-scientific and scientific knowledge as equally necessary in the process of management and public policy formation. Thus, the adoption of the SES approach must also serve to make better decisions about what kind of science and technology would be ‘public policy-ready’ (as well as also ‘policy-relevant’); that is, a science oriented and conceived to provide concrete solutions to societal needs and demands. Here we review and reinterpret the SES perspective as a real paradigm change for conservation science. Under the lenses of philosophy, we try to untangle some weak points of the SES approach in order to advance to a conservation science closer to the process of science-based public policy creation and to enhance the intertwining with other types of knowledge. In this sense, we discuss how co-production of knowledge and decision-making process under the SES perspective are a huge step forward towards fulfilling the need to bring increasingly closer the spheres of science and policy, narrowing its interface.
EDITED BY Patrick O’Farrell
... More generally, ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) promotes the conservation, sustainable management and restoration of natural ecosystems to help people and communities adapt to climate change (Cohen-Shacham et al.2016). However, the effective integration of EbA is challenged by scientific uncertainty at the international scale and disputes over criteria for prioritization (Ojea 2015;Bourne et al. 2016). ...
Biodiversity is in crisis. There is well-established evidence
indicating an irrevocable and continuing decline of genetic and
species diversity, and degradation of ecosystems at local and
global scales. Scientists are increasingly concerned that, if
anthropogenic pressures on Biodiversity continue unabated, we
risk precipitating a sixth mass extinction event in Earth history,
with profound impacts on human health and equity. {6.1}
... The benefits from EbA often require a longer time frame to unfold than for traditional infrastructure ("hard") adaptation measures. EbA might therefore need longer term definitions of returns to investment to appear beneficial (Ojea 2015). ...
Planning and implementation of regional climate change adaptation requires new, integrated governance arrangements that often involve public and private actors. Although entrepreneurship is widely considered an important part of such arrangements, little is known about the conditions that enable it, and its actual role is under-researched. Through an in-depth case study of an ecosystem-based adaptation project in the Netherlands, we have analyzed how the variegated actors in a governance network shape six conditions for entrepreneurial success, established in the entrepreneurship literature. Through a framing analysis, we found that all six conditions, i.e., prior career experience, altruistic motivations, financial motives, social networks, financial capital availability, and policies and regulations, were the object of constant negotiations. Their salience varied during the project as a result of variegated framing practices. In the early stages, issue, identity, and relationship frames were used to create a network of people with a range of relevant experience, connected by altruistic motivations. However, as the project progressed, distrust frames and different spatial-and temporal-scale frames created tensions between public and private actors. Accordingly, process frames, financial motivations, and capital availability became increasingly salient, reflecting the need to consolidate rules, roles, and responsibilities. The findings suggest that approaches to climate change adaptation imply ongoing struggles over the conditions that enable entrepreneurial success. We thereby add an important new dimension to the study of adaptation governance.
... However, global agreements do not necessarily percolate to national and sub-national policies, whereas local ecosystem-based approaches and solutions do not always scale up beyond the community that developed them (Scarano, 2017). In the international arena, barriers for mainstreaming it into climate policy are related to governance, effectiveness, time scale of processes, financing and scientific uncertainty (Ojea, 2015). ...
... However, global agreements do not necessarily percolate to national and sub-national policies, whereas local ecosystem-based approaches and solutions do not always scale up beyond the community that developed them (Scarano, 2017). In the international arena, barriers for mainstreaming it into climate policy are related to governance, effectiveness, time scale of processes, financing and scientific uncertainty (Ojea, 2015). ...
Chapter 6 on "Options for governance and decision-making across scales and sectors" is part of the regional assessment report on biodiversity and ecosystem services for the Americas of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services.
... Do ponto de vista científico, ainda há muito que se fazer em relação ao tema da adaptação às mudanças climáticas baseadas em ecossistemas. O tema é conceitualmente novo e parte da premissa básica que deve haver uma ligação direta entre serviços ecossistêmicos e bem-estar, que nem sempre é demonstrável ou testável (Ojea, 2015). Diante dessa limitação, muitas vezes AbE é tratada como sinônimo de pagamento por serviços ambientais ou como sinônimo de restauração ecológica. ...
O presente relatório foi preparado por encargo do Painel Brasileiro de Mudanças Climáticas (PBMC) para avaliar os impactos, a vulnerabilidade e as opções para adaptação das cidades brasileiras costeiras frente às mudanças climáticas. O relatório Especial do PBMC também aponta lacunas no conhecimento sobre os riscos e respostas das cidades aos eventos climáticos extremos. Esse estudo apresenta o estado da arte sobre o tema e fornece subsídios científicos para orientar estratégias de adaptação às mudanças climáticas, inclusive tratando de casos específicos para cidades costeiras de médio e grande porte no Brasil.
O escopo do relatório inclui: (a) vulnerabilidade das zonas costeiras das cidades brasileiras frente aos possíveis impactos do aumento do nível do mar e de eventos meteorológicos extremos, no presente e em cenários futuros de mudanças climáticas; (b) alternativas de adaptação em áreas urbanas costeiras, tanto infraestruturais como baseadas em ecossistemas; (c) recomendações para políticas de adaptação; e (d) estudos de casos de cidades costeiras de médio e grande porte em diferentes regiões do Brasil. Infelizmente, tendências na magnitude e frequência dos eventos ainda não são totalmente precisas devido à qualidade dos registros e ausência de padrão nas medições atmosféricas, o que dificulta a análise da erosão costeira e do aumento do nível do mar no território nacional.
Citação recomendada para este relatório: PBMC, 2016: Impacto, vulnerabilidade e adaptação das cidades costeiras brasileiras às mudanças climáticas: Relatório Especial do Painel Brasileiro de Mudanças Climáticas [Marengo, J.A., Scarano, F.R. (Eds.)]. PBMC, COPPE - UFRJ. Rio de Janeiro, Brasil. 184 p. ISBN: 978-85-285-0345-6.
AUTORES:
Jose A. Marengo - Cemaden/MCTIC
Fabio R. Scarano - UFRJ e FBDS
Antonio F. Klein - UFSC
Celia R. G. Souza - IG/ SP
Sin C. Chou - CPTEC/ INPE
REVISORA:
Andrea Souza Santos - UFRJ
... As part of an overall climate adaptation strategy, EbA aims to increase the resilience of and reduce the vulnerability of ecosystems and people by drawing upon the range of opportunities for the sustainable management, conservation, and restoration of ecosystems to provide services that enable people to adapt to the impacts of climate (CBD 2009;Ojea 2015;Reid 2016;Roberts et al. 2012). ...
Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) is increasingly being advocated as a climate adaptation approach that can deliver multiple benefits to communities. EbA scholarship argues that community-based projects can strengthen those ecosystems that deliver critical services to communities and in doing so enhance community resilience. In particular, the inclusion of indigenous and traditional knowledge (ITK) into community-based EbA projects is positioned as critical to successful climate adaptation. Yet, there is surprisingly little investigation into how ITK is being defined and incorporated into EbA initiatives. This paper critically reviews EbA literature and provides empirical examples from Vanuatu and Samoa to demonstrate the different ways ITK relates to EbA projects. We find that there is widespread recognition that ITK is important for indigenous and local communities and can be employed successfully in EbA. However, this recognition is more aspirational than practical and is not being necessarily translated into ITK-informed or ITK-driven EbA projects. ITK should not be conceptualized simply as a collection of local environmental information that is integrated with Western scientific knowledge. Instead, ITK is part of nested knowledge systems (information-practices-worldviews) of indigenous peoples. This knowledge includes local natural resource management, sociocultural governance structures, social norms, spiritual beliefs, and historical and contemporary experiences of colonial dispossession and marginalization. At present, most EbA projects focus on the provision of information to main decision-makers only; however, since ITK is held collectively, it is essential that entire communities are included in ITK EbA projects. There is a huge potential for researchers and ITK holders to coproduce knowledge that would be best placed to drive climate adaptation in a changing world.
... Despite its strong theoretical appeal, many positive anecdotes from around the world and the acknowledged multiplicity of co-benefits, EbA is not being widely or consistently implemented, or sufficiently mainstreamed into national and international policy processes. Relative to hard infrastructural options, EbA currently receives a small proportion of adaptation finance (Chong 2014) There are four major explanations for this (Biesbroek et al. 2013;Ojea 2015;Vignola et al. 2009;Vignola et al. 2013;Seddon et al. 2016b). ...
Ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) is the use of biodiversity and
ecosystem services as part of an overall strategy to help people to adapt to
the adverse effects of climate change. Under the ‘Ecosystem-based
approaches to adaptation: strengthening the evidence and informing policy’
project, IIED, IUCN and the UN Environment World Conservation
Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) are working at 13 sites in 12 countries to
gather practical evidence and develop policy guidance for governments on
how EbA can best be implemented. The project has developed a definition
of effective EbA and a framework for assessing EbA effectiveness which
has been applied at all 13 sites and the results will be collated and
compared to draw conclusions that are based on more than single case
studies. This report presents the findings from a literature review, and
interviews with a wide variety of stakeholders conducted by Conservation
South Africa at the project site in the Succulent Karoo, South Africa, where
activities focused on the rehabilitation of critical rangeland and wetland
ecosystems.
The report concludes that wetland restoration had improved access to
water and reduced the risk of disasters, and thus improved the resilience
and adaptive capacity of some community members. Rangeland restoration
takes a long time and while it was too soon to identify specific outcomes
from restoration efforts, community vulnerability will be less due to new land
management plans and practices. Improvements in ecosystem resilience
and services provision were also apparent, particularly following the
wetland restoration activities. Semi-arid Succulent Karoo ecosystems may
have thresholds relating to overgrazing or climate change, which if crossed
could lead to irreversible change. Both the rangeland and wetland
restoration approaches were considerably more expensive than other
adaptation options, and the rangeland restoration in particular was not
financially viable for landowners. Despite this, EbA options provide many
broader economic benefits, such as job creation, providing a strong
economic case for wider application using government funding channelled
through South Africa’s expanded public works programmes. Despite a
number of policy and institutional barriers to the implementation of effective
EbA initiatives, these public works programmes offer great potential for
scaling up EbA implementation. Mainstreaming is also occurring as EbA is
incorporated into various national policy making and planning processes in
South Africa.
... The disastrous and often tragic effects of these hazards force decision-makers to search for viable strategies to mitigate such events. Several studies document the potential of green spaces to mitigate climate change effects and reduce vulnerability (Gill, Handley, Ennos, & Pauleit, 2007;Munang, Thiaw, Alverson, Liu, & Han, 2013;Ojea, 2015;Zölch, Maderspacher, Wamsler, & Pauleit, 2016). In urban areas, green spaces can provide several benefits (urban ES) that improve the quality of life in cities (Gómez-Baggethun & Barton, 2013). ...
Africa is urbanizing at an astonishing rate. To meet many of the Sustainable Development Goals there will be a requirement for cities in sub-Saharan Africa to plan for, and manage, the rapid rise in the urban population. Green infrastructure has the potential to provide multiple ecosystem services to benefit the urban population. The general objective of this review is to consolidate research undertaken on urban green infrastructure and the associated ecosystem services in sub-Saharan African cities. The 68 reviewed papers spanned 20 countries and included 74 urban areas. However, only 38% of sub-Saharan countries had any research carried out in them. The most represented ecosystem services were regulating and provisioning, with supporting services getting the least attention. Overall there was a lack of in-depth studies on all ecosystem services, especially supporting and cultural services. Seven overarching categories of barriers and challenges to the sustainable delivery of ecosystem services emerged from the reviewed papers, namely: (i) socio-cultural values, traditions and perceptions; (ii) lack of capacity; (iii) governance, urban planning and social inequality; (iv) lack of data and/or case studies; (v) ecosystem disservices; (vi) spatial trade-offs and conflicts; (vii) climate change. These barriers we identified will need to be addressed if the future, long-term sustainable provision of ecosystem services in sub-Saharan African cities is to be assured.
... The role of ESs in reducing vulnerability and in contributing to adaptation is particularly important in the face of climate change (Jones et al., 2012;Munang et al., 2013a). Adaptation to climate change can be rooted in ES sustainabilityknown as 'ecosystem based adaptation' (Ojea, 2015). It is defined as an approach that "harness the capacity of nature to buffer human communities against the adverse impacts of climate change through the sustainable delivery of ES" and is expected to provide cost-effective adaptation resulting in resilient socio-ecological systems (Jones et al., 2012). ...
The present study collects original monetary estimates for water related ecosystem service benefits on the African continent from 36 valuation studies. A database of 178 monetary estimates is constructed to conduct a meta-analysis that, for the first time, digs into what factors drive water related ecosystem service values in Africa. We find that the service type, biome and other socioeconomic variables are significant in explaining benefits from water related services. In order to understand the importance that benefits from water related ecosystem services have for climate change, we explore the relationship between these benefits and the countries' vulnerability and readiness to adapt to climate change. We find that countries face synergies and trade-offs in terms of how valuable their water related ecosystem services are and their potential vulnerability and adaptation capacity. While more vulnerable countries are associated with lower benefits from ecosystem services, countries with a higher readiness to adapt are also associated with lower ecosystem service values. Results are discussed in light of natural capital accounting and ecosystem-based adaptation.
Ecosystem-based adaptation programs seek to use ecosystem services to help vulnerable human communities adapt to climate change impacts. Proponents of these programs cite biodiversity conservation as a critical co-benefit, however to date, limited studies examine the outcomes of ecosystem-based adaptation interventions, particularly in terms of implications for wildlife. This case study applies the Common International Classification of Ecosystem Services framework to examine an ecosystem-based adaptation program in the Mt. Elgon region of Uganda. Participant interviews within communities previously enrolled in an ecosystem-based adaptation project are used to explore how these programs change local community members’ perceived relationships with nature, in the context of environmental change, and the potential implications for wildlife both within and outside of nearby Mt. Elgon National Park. Results indicate that ecosystem-based adaptation programs positively influenced participants’ reported conservation values, perceptions, and behaviors; however, wildlife disservices emerged as a significant factor influencing adaptation outcomes and biodiversity conservation co-benefits. This study underscores the importance of incorporating disservices into ecosystem-based adaptation to address factors that may undermine climate resilience gains, particularly as these and other nature-based climate solutions are implemented globally.
Through the critical lenses of philosophy, history, and political ecology, I will go through the different approaches used, historically, by the conservation science to protect the Patagonian coastal environments, to end up proposing an integral and overcoming alternative: the social-ecological systems perspective (SES). In this chapter, I will go through the state of the art of the current debates, both conceptual and praxiological, around conservation science, evaluating its implications on the conservation of coastal environments in Patagonia in the context of global change. I begin with the most used theories in environmental conservation, their philosophical roots, and their contrasting and dichotomous approaches and strategies used to know and understand the (socio)ecosystems which are wanted to be conserved. Then I will analyze how these contradictions are expressed in the Patagonian coast, generating a series of challenges for the conservation and management of the biocultural heritage of the region. Finally, I present the central arguments of what, in my opinion, is an overcoming approach to deal with these contradictions: the hermeneutics – in constant co-construction – of SES.
While emphasizing on the essentiality of tackling adverse impacts of the ongoing process of climate change, the chapter specifically focuses on the pros and cons of mitigation and adaptation measures along with exploring the scope of geoengineering for dealing with climate change. Taking note of the growing emphasis on nature-based solutions, adoption of ecosystem-based adaptation approach is suggested to cope with the problem of climate change as a viable and feasible solution.
Devastating havoc wreaked by adverse impacts of climate change has increasingly enhanced the need for mainstreaming ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) into policies and programs at all levels. While taking into account the theoretical aspects of mainstreaming, focus is also centered on entry points for mainstreaming, pragmatic aspects of mainstreaming EbA in some countries like G-20 nations, Sweden, Bangladesh, and India with specific focus on Meghalaya, along with emerging lessons from mainstreaming EbA based on the field experience and the impediments that hinder the mainstreaming of EbA in to national, provincial and local policy levels. In the final analysis, emphasis is focused on frequent and regular exchange of fresh knowledge and expertise garnered through ongoing EbA mainstreaming projects in order to surmount prevalent barriers.
Climate change adaptation is essential to mitigate risks, such as extreme weather events triggered by global warming and amplified in dense urban environments. Ecosystem-based adaptation measures, such as urban greening, are promoted in cities because of their flexibility and their positive side effects, such as human health benefits, ecological effects, climate mitigation and a range of social benefits. While individual co-benefits of greening measures are well studied, often in public green spaces, few studies quantify co-benefits comprehensively, leaving social benefits particularly understudied. In this study, we perform biophysical and socio-cultural assessments of co-benefits provided by semi-public, residential greening in four courtyards with varying green structures. We quantify effects on thermal comfort, biodiversity, carbon storage and social interaction. We further assess the importance of these co-benefits to people in the neighbourhood. Subsequently, we weight the results from the biophysical assessments with the socio-cultural values to evaluate how even small differences in green structures result in differences in the provision of co-benefits. Results show that, despite relatively small differences in green structures, the residential courtyards with a higher green volume clearly generate more co-benefits than the residential yards with less green, particularly for thermal comfort. Despite differences in the valuation of co-benefits in the neighbourhood, socio-cultural weights did not change the outcome of the comparative assessment. Our results highlight that a deliberate management strategy, possibly on neighbourhood-scale, could enhance co-benefits and contribute to a more sustainable urban development.
Ecosystem‐based adaptation (EbA) relies upon the capacity of ecosystems to buffer communities against the adverse impacts of climate change. Maintaining ecosystems that deliver critical services to communities can also provide co‐benefits beyond adaptation, such as climate mitigation and protection of biological diversity and livelihoods. EbA has to a limited extent drawn upon indigenous‐and local knowledge (ILK) for defining critical services and for implementing EbA in decision‐making. This is a paradox given that the primary focus of EbA is to enable communities to adapt to climate change. The purpose of this study was to elucidate EbA strategies that take into account the knowledge of Sámi reindeer herders about pastures in tundra regions. We first examined what constitutes critical services through a synthesis of data and literature. We thereafter used content analysis of 91 land use cases from 2010–2018 to investigate to what extent the herders’ knowledge and maps over seasonal pastures and migratory routes are used in local decision‐making. Finally, we propose EbA strategies of relevance to Sámi communities and pastoral communities elsewhere. Our analysis revealed that reindeer herders and organizations representing their interests perceived threats from green energy development, tourism, recreation, public road construction and powerlines. These threats included the loss of key habitats and the loss of connectivity for migration between seasonal pastures. Pastoralists’ knowledge is incorporated through participatory tools to protect the ecosystems and services crucial for pastoralists, but multiple competing land uses result in incremental loss of pastures regardless. Synthesis and application. Protecting pasture ecosystems and the services they deliver, including the connectivity between pastures, are necessary EbA strategies to buffer the adverse effects of climate change. Drawing on pastoralists’ knowledge to elicit EbA strategies can inform decision‐making, but it is equally important to implement this knowledge for prioritizing adaptation needs in the assessment of competing land use.
In this chapter, essential ecological and societal aspects of the Nordic coastal environment are highlighted. These show that local communities and stakeholders need to be more involved in decision-making because their needs and their ecological knowledge are essential to this process. This also relates to Aichi targets 14, 15, 16 and 18 (see Lucas et al., 2015). There is need to improve the monitoring of all types of NCP or ecosystem services and to critically review existing indicators that may be used to track the development of biodiversity and NCP. Only by actively analysing data and creating syntheses, is it possible to understand changes in the ecosystem linking biodiversity and NCP.
In the international climate policy arena, it has become increasingly recognised that
ecosystem-based approaches “can offer cost-effective, proven and sustainable solutions
contributing to, and complementing, other national and regional adaptation strategies” (World
Bank, 2009, p. 8). Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) is often advocated as a particularly
well-suited climate adaptation approach especially in developing and least developed
countries (Bourne et al., 2016; Pasquilini and Cowling, 2015; World Bank, 2009). Its
perceived strength lies in the premise that adaptation strategies need to address both
ecosystems and livelihoods, given these are crucially intertwined and both under a threat
from climate change (Munroe et al., 2012; Roberts et al., 2012).
Many recent reviews have tried to better understand what exactly EbA is, what its current
challenges are and what opportunities it offers (Chong, 2014; Doswald et al., 2014; Ojea,
2014; Reid, 2015). While these recent reviews provide useful information on how EbA is
being approached, there seems to be a tacit assumption that people generally agree and
know what ‘ecosystem-based adaptation’ means. This may not be the case, and this review
seeks to contribute to clarifying the concept.
The purpose of this report is to provide analysis of the key concepts included and embedded in EbA discourse, and examine what exactly forms the essence of ‘EbA-ness’ in adaptation policy and research activities. More specifically the review focused on identifying different EbA definitions, and on differentiating assumed benefits, and the enablers for effective EbA. Specific analysis of the constraints is presented elsewhere (Nalau et al., under review) although we touch upon some generic issues regarding constraints and limits also in this report.
The report found that overall the discourse in regards to preferring EbA as an adaptation
approach includes such concepts as co-benefits and trade-offs, which all relate also to the
ways EbA is constrained and/or enabled as an option for climate change adaptation. The
main constraints related mostly to issues of governance systems and hierarchies, social and cultural constraints, knowledge-related issues and gaps, and physical constraints and limits. In contrast, the enabling factors related mostly to governance and knowledge aspects, with heavy emphasis on multi-stakeholder participation, and using diverse sets of knowledges, which are seen to enable a more equitable and just approach to climate change adaptation in particular in the Pacific region.
Recommendations put forward include the need to provide well-documented case studies of EbA in the region, which crystallise the main lessons learned, including the practical
challenges in designing and implementing multi-stakeholder projects, and how EbA can be
measured and monitored to ensure it is delivering the expected benefits. Increasing the
evidence base for EbA, while remaining realistic about the political and governance systems and capacity to adapt, is an important next step. More research should also examine the decision-making processes and to identify the main influencing factors when making decisions on adaptation options, and examine the robustness of EbA ‘heuristics’ in use.
Climate change is expected to modify the timing and amount of precipitation in the future, increasing the demand for effective adaptation at the local scale, especially to mitigate the impacts of extreme events, expected to increase in frequency and magnitude. Green infrastructure (GI) can provide a crucial water regulating ecosystem service, helping communities to adapt to the increased stormwater runoff and associated flood risks expected from climate change. This paper presents a new planning tool that utilizes remote sensing and census data to model the supply and demand for urban flood reduction services through GI. A high-resolution urban digital model is used to distinguish between permeable and impermeable areas at fine (e.g. 25 cm) spatial scale. Flood reduction capacity was modeled using two indices: i) the amount of runoff reduced by existing GI, and ii) the runoff reduction coefficient. We also analyzed the flood reduction demand using a vulnerability index. The tool is demonstrated in a historical urban center of the Northern Italy, with different scenarios used to identify priority areas of intervention. The results show that the flood reduction capacity is unevenly distributed throughout the study area. Public and private surfaces contribute different amounts of runoff with different flood reduction potentials. In eight of nine urban study areas, private properties generate more runoff than public properties under the worst scenario conditions. The study identified two priority areas of intervention, based on their mismatch between supply and demand of GI's water regulating services.
En Centroamérica, el sector agrícola es indispensable para el desarrollo económico, el alivio de la pobreza y la preservación de la identidad cultural. Gran parte de la producción agrícola regional procede de pequeños productores. La agricultura de pequeña escala proporciona medios de vida a más de 2.4 millones de familias, representa cerca del 50% del PIB agrícola de los países centroamericanos, y provee aproximadamente el 70% de los alimentos consumidos en la región.
Los pequeños productores se enfrentan a retos importantes para mantener sus medios de vida: presentan altas tasas de pobreza y analfabetismo, viven en zonas de difícil acceso, cultivan tierras empinadas y marginales, y a menudo carecen de servicios básicos, acceso a crédito y asistencia técnica. Muchos de ellos dependen solamente de su producción para su seguridad alimentaria y generación de ingresos, lo cual implica que son altamente vulnerables a cualquier aspecto que afecte la producción agrícola.
El cambio climático agrava la vulnerabilidad de los pequeños productores, ya que los cambios de temperatura y precipitación afectan negativamente la productividad agrícola y los medios de vida de los productores.
Este resumen para tomadores de de decisión presenta la Adaptación basada en Ecosistemas como una opción factible para la adaptación de los pequeños productores.
This study has been inspired by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystems Services (IPBES). The aim of the assessment was to describe the status and trends of biodiversity and ecosystems in the Nordic region, including the drivers and pressures affecting these ecosystem components, as well as the effects on people and society and options for governance. Ultimately, this study provided an opportunity to aid the process of utilizing scientific results in the policy and decision-making realm, thus forwarding the science-policy interphase. The Nordic study is structured as closely as possible to the framework for the regional assessments currently being finalized within IPBES. This assessment has been based on information provided by the following case study areas in the Nordic countries: Näätämö/ Neiden basin, Kalix Archipelago, Kvarken/the Quark, Puruvesi Lake in North Karelia, the Lumparn area, Öresund, Helgeland coast, Faroe Islands (Føroyar), Broddanes West Fjords and the coastal areas of Húsavík (Iceland) and Disko Bay (Greenland)
Caribbean Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are vulnerable to climate change impacts including sea level rise, invasive species, ocean acidification, changes in rainfall patterns, increased temperatures, and changing hazard regimes including hurricanes, floods and drought. Given high dependencies in Caribbean SIDS on natural resources for livelihoods, a focus on ecosystems and their interaction with people is essential for climate change adaptation. Increasingly, ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) approaches are being highlighted as an approach to address climate change impacts. Specifically, EbA encourages the use of local and external knowledge about ecosystems to identify climate change adaptation approaches. This paper critically reviews EbA in Caribbean SIDS, focusing on the need to integrate local and external knowledge. An analysis of current EbA in the Caribbean is undertaken alongside a review of methodologies used to integrate local and external expertise for EbA. Finally key gaps, lessons learnt and suggested ways forward for EbA in Caribbean SIDS and potentially further afield are identified.
Individually, climate change and invasive species present two of the greatest threats to biodiversity and the provision of valuable ecosystem services. Combined, the complexity of their interactions dramatically increases, and evidence is rapidly growing on how climate change is compounding the already devastating effects of invasive species. Climate change impacts, including warming temperatures and changes in CO2 concentrations, are likely to increase opportunities for invasive alien species because of their adaptability to disturbance and to a broader range of biogeographic conditions. The impacts of those invasive species may be more severe as they increase both in numbers and extent, and as they compete for diminishing resources such as freshwater. Warmer air and water temperatures may also facilitate movement of species along previously inaccessible pathways of spread, both natural and human-made.
Targeted at policy-makers, responsible for developing climate mitigation and adaption strategies that address issues like conservation, ecosystem services, agriculture and sustainable livelihoods, the report focuses on the primary linkages between invasive species and climate change, as well as the secondary and tertiary interactions of their corresponding impacts. Building on a review of existing scientific and conservation literature, the report identifies significant gaps and questions about the intersection of these two major drivers of change. Included case studies highlight key relationships and questions related to invasive species, climate change and the role of ecosystem-based adaptation. Finally, a series of recommendations are intended to provide guidance on the best ways to integrate invasive species prevention and management into the consideration of climate change responses across a range of sectors.
Although conservation efforts have sometimes succeeded in meeting environmental goals at the expense of equity considerations, the changing
context of conservation and a growing body of evidence increasingly suggest that equity considerations should be integrated into conservation
planning and implementation. However, this approach is often perceived to be at odds with the prevailing focus on economic efficiency that
characterizes many payment for ecosystem services (PES) schemes. Drawing from examples across the literature, we show how the equity impacts
of PES can create positive and negative feedbacks that influence ecological outcomes. We caution against equity-blind PES, which overlooks these
relationships as a result of a primary and narrow focus on economic efficiency. We call for further analysis and better engagement between
the social and ecological science communities to understand the relationships and trade-offs among efficiency, equity, and ecological outcomes.
Climate change is projected to alter river flows and the magnitude/frequency characteristics of floods and droughts. Ecosystem-based adaptation highlights the interdependence of human and natural systems, and the potential to buffer the impacts of climate change by maintaining functioning ecosystems that continue to provide multiple societal benefits. Natural flood management (NFM), emphasising the restoration of innate hydrological pathways, provides important regulating services in relation to both runoff rates and water quality and is heralded as a potentially important climate change adaptation strategy. This paper draws together 25 NFM schemes, providing a meta-analysis of hydrological performance along with a wider consideration of their net (dis) benefits. Increasing woodland coverage, whilst positively linked to peak flow reduction (more pronounced for low magnitude events), biodiversity and carbon storage, can adversely impact other provisioning service-especially food production. Similarly, reversing historical land drainage operations appears to have mixed impacts on flood alleviation, carbon sequestration and water quality depending on landscape setting and local catchment characteristics. Wetlands and floodplain restoration strategies typically have fewer disbenefits and provide improvements for regulating and supporting services. It is concluded that future NFM proposals should be framed as ecosystem-based assessments, with trade-offs considered on a case-by-case basis.
Coastal ecosystems generate diverse services, such as protection, production of food, climate regulation and recreation across the globe. These services are vital for extremely vulnerable coastal areas for enhancing present and future adaptation capacity under changing climate. Bangladesh has long coastline which provides opportunities to large population for multiple resource uses; and threats from extreme natural disasters. The CBACC-Coastal Afforestation is the priority initiative of Bangladesh NAPA that has come in actions under first LDCF adaptation project. The project has focused to reduce climatic vulnerability through enhancing resilience of coastal forests and adaptive capacity of communities. With a total of 6,100 ha of new mangrove plantation and introducing 10 important mangrove species in existing monoculture areas, the project increased protective and carbon rich forest coverage, and also functional capacity of coastal vegetation to adapt to current and future climatic shocks. Concurrently, the project developed co-benefit regime for community based adaptation through innovating integrated land uses for livelihoods of adjacent households. A new land use model (Forest, Fish and Fruit-Triple F) has been implemented to restore fallow coastal lands into community based livelihood adaptation practices. The Triple F practice has reduced inundation and salinity risks and freshwater scarcity in cultivation of agricultural crops and fish. The rational land uses improved household adaptation capacity of landless households through short-, mid- and long-term income generation. The project lesson has further focus to justify the land use innovation for harnessing potential opportunities of ecosystem based adaptation in coastal Bangladesh.
Ecosystem-based approaches for adaptation (EbA) integrate the use of biodiversity and ecosystem services into an overall strategy for helping people adapt to climate change. To date, however, insight into these approaches has often been based on anecdotal case studies of local peoples' use of ecosystems. A systematic map of EbA-relevant peer-reviewed literature, and a sample of grey literature, was undertaken to (1) give a methodical overview of the state of the evidence-base on EbA effectiveness and (2) identify key knowledge gaps. A framework was developed with stakeholders to assess the evidence-base for EbA effectiveness. The literature reviewed showed that much can be learnt about EbA from articles which considered climatic variability and climate extremes. Measures of the effectiveness of EbA-relevant interventions recorded in the articles showed positive results, although discussion of thresholds, limits and timescales related to these interventions was limited. Social, environmental and economic benefits of EbA interventions were in evidence in most articles, and though costs were discussed, this was limited in extent. It is concluded that the literature on EbA-relevant interventions addressing climatic variability, change, and linked extremes and natural hazards, contains some information that will support making the case for EbA, but the evidence-base has a number of gaps that should be addressed.
Resilient ecosystems are vital to human well-being and are increasingly recognised as critical to supporting communities’ efforts to adapt to climate change. The governing bodies of the Convention on Biological Diversity and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change are encouraging parties to adopt ‘ecosystem-based adaptation’ (EbA) approaches, which utilise biodiversity and ecosystem services to support climate change adaptation. These approaches are wide ranging and include mangrove restoration to buffer against storm surges; watershed management to protect against droughts and floods; rangeland management to prevent desertification; and sustainable management of fisheries and forests to ensure food security. This article examines the emergence of EbA in international legal frameworks for climate change and biodiversity and progress towards implementation. The EbA concept is potentially powerful in catalysing international and national commitments to act due to its key defining features of a focus on societal adaptation rather than ecocentricism, and a targeting of the immediate adaptation needs of the poorest and most vulnerable communities who are adversely affected by climate change. However, examination of national policy and practice in two least developed countries, Samoa and Cambodia, reveals that institutional and legal barriers at national level can pose significant challenges to operationalising EbA to achieve adaptation objectives.
The need to adapt to climate change is now widely recognised as evidence of its impacts on social and natural systems grows and greenhouse gas emissions continue unabated. Yet efforts to adapt to climate change, as reported in the literature over the last decade and in selected case studies, have not led to substantial rates of implementation of adaptation actions despite substantial investments in adaptation science. Moreover, implemented actions have been mostly incremental and focused on proximate causes; there are far fewer reports of more systemic or transformative actions. We found that the nature and effectiveness of responses was strongly influenced by framing. Recent decision-oriented approaches that aim to overcome this situation are framed within a “pathways” metaphor to emphasise the need for robust decision making within adaptive processes in the face of uncertainty and inter-temporal complexity. However, to date, such “adaptation pathways” approaches have mostly focused on contexts with clearly identified decision-makers and unambiguous goals; as a result, they generally assume prevailing governance regimes are conducive for adaptation and hence constrain responses to proximate causes of vulnerability. In this paper, we explore a broader conceptualisation of “adaptation pathways” that draws on ‘pathways thinking’ in the sustainable development domain to consider the implications of path dependency, interactions between adaptation plans, vested interests and global change, and situations where values, interests, or institutions constrain societal responses to change. This re-conceptualisation of adaptation pathways aims to inform decision makers about integrating incremental actions on proximate causes with the transformative aspects of societal change. Case studies illustrate what this might entail. The paper ends with a call for further exploration of theory, methods and procedures to operationalise this broader conceptualisation of adaptation.
Adapting to climate change is among the biggest challenges humanity
faces in the next century. An overwhelming focus of adaptation
strategies to reduce climate change-related hazards has been on
hard-engineering structures such as sea walls, irrigation infrastructure
and dams. Closer attention to a broader spectrum of adaptation options
is urgently needed. In particular, ecosystem-based adaptation approaches
provide flexible, cost-effective and broadly applicable alternatives for
buffering the impacts of climate change, while overcoming many drawbacks
of hard infrastructure. As such, they are a critical tool at adaptation
planners' disposal for tackling the threats that climate change poses to
peoples' lives and livelihoods.
Resilience thinking addresses the dynamics and development of complex social–ecological systems (SES). Three aspects are central: resilience, adaptability and transformability. These aspects interrelate across multiple scales. Resilience in this context is the capacity of a SES to continually change and adapt yet remain within critical thresholds. Adaptability is part of resilience. It represents the capacity to adjust responses to changing external drivers and internal processes and thereby allow for development along the current trajectory (stability domain). Transformability is the capacity to cross thresholds into new development trajectories. Transformational change at smaller scales enables resilience at larger scales. The capacity to transform at smaller scales draws on resilience from multiple scales, making use of crises as windows of opportunity for novelty and innovation, and recombining sources of experience and knowledge to navigate social–ecological transitions. Society must seriously consider ways to foster resilience of smaller more manageable SESs that contribute to Earth System resilience and to explore options for deliberate transformation of SESs that threaten Earth System resilience.
Background
Ecosystem-based approaches for adaptation (EbA) integrate the use of biodiversity and ecosystem services into an overall strategy for helping people adapt to climate change. To date, insight into these approaches has often been based on reports from isolated anecdotal case studies. Although these are informative, and provide evidence that people are using ecosystems to adapt, they provide rather limited insight in terms of measuring and evaluating the effectiveness of EbA, especially when compared with technical or structural adaptation interventions. The body of scientific evidence indicating how effective such approaches are is lacking in some aspects. Where evidence does exist it is often dispersed across a range of related fields, such as natural resource management, disaster risk reduction and agroecology. To date, there has been little attempt to systematically assemble and analyse this evidence. Therefore, the current state of evidence regarding the merits or otherwise of EbA is unknown and it has not been possible to identify prevailing knowledge gaps to inform research and analysis, which will enable policymakers to compare EbA with other adaptation options.
Methods
This protocol details the methodology to be used to conduct a systematic map of peer-reviewed published journal papers and a limited selection of grey literature, to give a methodical overview of the state of the evidence base for EbA effectiveness, and to identify the current knowledge gaps. It addresses the following question: What is the state of the evidence base regarding the ability of ecosystem-based approaches for adaptation to help people adapt to the impacts of climate change?
The changing climate is no longer an abstract issue, and the realities of its impacts are being felt across the globe. Climate change is affecting millions of people, and thwarting their efforts to escape poverty. Against this harsh reality, it will be imperative to speed up the integration of climate risk considerations into policy, in order to ensure that development proceeds along pathways that are resilient to climate change. However, the questions as to the type of strategies, approaches and actions required still generate divergent views on the international policy arena. Closer attention to a broader spectrum of adaptation options is urgently needed. Approaches that go beyond words into actions with potential to informing and guiding policy practices are imperative and urgently needed. In particular Ecosystem-based Adaptation approaches have proved to provide flexible, cost effective and broadly applicable alternatives for reducing the impacts of climate change and as such are a critical tool at adaptation planners disposal for tackling the threats that climate change poses to peoples lives and livelihoods across the globe.
Ecosystem service degradation, exacerbated by climate change, requires flexible and effective communication within governance systems to foster actions that reverse current trends and can cope with changing conditions. Key organizations bridge information to a variety of actors across administrative scales and policy areas in complex governance networks concerned with ecosystem services. In this paper, we use quantitative analysis of information flows, perceived influence and competence within a multi-actors’ governance network to identify key information bridging organizations (BrO) for an example involving soil regulation services in a watershed in Costa Rica. Here, heavy soil erosion (due to intense cultivation on steep slopes, and increasing frequency of extreme precipitation events) affects both farmers (by loss of fertile topsoil) and hydroelectric generation (by rapid siltation of reservoirs downstream). To gauge the information-bridging capacities of organizations we use the network parameter betweenness centrality, and we created two new parameters to measure the extent of cross-scale and cross-policy area exchange of information of the organizations. The regional agricultural extension office is identified, among others, as a crucial BrO in keeping with other studies of agricultural systems. The results also show that network analysis provides an empirical basis for understanding information flows and influence in governance networks, in order to identify key organizations. In this manner, we can diagnose potential bottlenecks, when these organizations lack the resources to achieve their mandates and need support to strengthen their efforts in information provision and influence in governance for ecosystem services.
Considerable barriers can emerge in developing and implementing climate change adaptation strategies. Understanding the nature of barriers to adaptation is important so as to find strategic ways of dealing with them. However, our current understanding is limited and highly fragmented across the academic community. This paper aims to bring some conceptual convergence in these debates by applying a systematic review method to assess the current state of knowledge on barriers to adaptation in the peer-reviewed literature. The review results show that: (1) Barriers to adaptation have hardly been defined in the literature and no clear indicators exist so as to identify and assess them systematically. (2) An impressive number of barriers have been reported, but the list of possible barriers is seemingly endless. (3) The most frequently reported barriers relate to the institutional and social dimensions of adaptation. (4) Barriers are identified as configurations of climate and non-climate factors and conditions that emerge from the actor, the governance system, or the system of concern. (5) Barriers are mainly studied in developed countries with a strong focus on water-related domains. (6) The majority of studies on barriers use small-n inductive case approaches while comparative studies across different contexts are limited. (7) Although interventions to overcome barriers are recommended by most studies, empirical studies on interventions are scarce. We present further conceptual clarification and a more precise definition of barriers to adaptation. We conclude that future research should go beyond asking the questions ‘if’ and ‘which’ barriers to adaptation exist and begin asking ‘how’ and ‘why’ barriers emerge.
The Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD ) program emerging as a part of the international climate change regime holds the potential to dramatically affect forestry in the tropics. REDD has demonstrated an ability to overcome the major political obstacles to earlier efforts to promote sustainable forest management (SFM) in the tropics, but key questions regarding its on-the-ground impact remain. This article suggests that REDD can become a successful vehicle for advancing SFM if it is re-conceived to include support for adaptation as one of its primary goals. Some degree of adaptation is necessary to effectively implement any form of REDD , and SFM practices offer the core toolkit for securing forest adaptation in the context of REDD . Re-envisioning REDD as a dual-focus program aimed at mitigation and adaptation builds upon the potential synergies between these two climate regime goals and calls upon experiences with SFM to provide the means of achieving them. Operationalizing this vision will require development of novel arrangements of authority and incentives across scales of governance that can provide opportunities for learning in support of a larger need for new approaches to governance of global environmental issues. Thus, integrating adaptation into REDD can advance not only climate change regime goals, but also long-standing SFM goals and the increasingly apparent demand for more effective international environmental governance generally.
Review of recent literature on adaptation to climate change and general literature on policy processes shows that there are a large number of barriers that hamper the development and implementation of climate change adaptation strategies. To reduce and manage the number of barriers and combine both streams of literature, we propose seven clusters of barriers to adaptation. Little is known, however, about the relative importance of these barriers to climate change adaptation policies and practices. An online survey was conducted between March 2010 and July 2010 among 264 scientists, policymakers, and private actors from different sectors and levels who are involved in climate change adaptation projects and programmes in the Netherlands. The survey aimed to gather their experiences with, and perceptions of, the barriers identified in the literature and encountered in their daily work. Both climate-related and non-climate-related barriers were included in the survey. Data were subjected to both qualitative and quantitative analysis. A survey feedback workshop was organized to discuss the results with several of the survey respondents. Results of this study revealed that respondents considered conflicting timescales as the most important cluster of barriers to adaptation. Other highly ranked barriers include conflicting interests; lack of financial resources; unclear division of tasks and responsibilities; uncertain societal costs and future benefits; and fragmentation within and between scales of governance. Furthermore, the analysis demonstrated that scales matter in understanding the barriers to adaptation: actors from lowlevels of governance seem to consider the barriers as more severe than actors from high levels of governance.
The 'ecosystem service' debate has taken on many features of a classic Kuhnian paradigm. It challenges conventional wisdoms about conservation and the value of nature, and is driven as much by political agendas as scientific ones. In this paper we review some current and emerging issues arising in relation to the analysis and assessment of ecosystem services, and in particular emphasize the need for physical geographers to find new ways of characterizing the structure and dynamics of service providing units. If robust and relevant valuations are to be made of the contribution that natural capital makes to human well-being, then we need a deeper understanding of the way in which the drivers of change impact on the marginal outputs of ecosystem services. A better understanding of the trade-offs that need to be considered when dealing with multifunctional ecosystems is also required. Future developments must include methods for describing and tracking the stocks and flows that characterize natural capital. This will support valuation of the benefits estimation of the level of reinvestment that society must make in this natural capital base if it is to be sustained. We argue that if the ecosystem service concept is to be used seriously as a framework for policy and management then the biophysical sciences generally, and physical geography in particular, must go beyond the uncritical 'puzzle solving' that characterizes recent work. A geographical perspective can provide important new, critical insights into the place-based approaches to ecosystem assessment that are now emerging.
In recent years, there has been a growing interest in payments for environmental services (PES) for ecosystem-based adaptation (EBA). So far, however, experiences and theoretical analyses of PES specifically for adaptation have not been well documented. This paper addresses this gap by analysing the opportunities and constraints of PES as an instrument for EBA. Specifically, we examine the potential for PES to address key elements for adaptation by focusing on three pathways: the user side, the provider side and institutional and societal change. In addition, we assess whether PES fulfils key requirements for adaptation policy instruments, notably effectiveness, efficiency, equity and legitimacy. We find that PES are not a panacea for all environmental services and country contexts, but can be promising adaptation policy instruments where certain preconditions are met and synergies prevail. We conclude on four points especially relevant for the practical scope for PES-adaptation synergies: (i) natural adaptation co-benefits (where the targeted environmental service serves a dual function, e.g. secured water quality and increased adaptive capacity), (ii) piggy-backing (where adaptation benefits are coincidental outcomes), (iii) adaptation-relevant institutional and sectoral spillovers from PES schemes, and (iv) direct payments for adaptation benefits.
The extent to which ecosystem services have been considered in the National Adaptation Programmes of Action (NAPAs) and the proposed adaptation projects is assessed. By August 2010, 44 least developed countries had prepared their NAPAs in response to climate change. The NAPAs constitute a starting point for planning adaptation nationally and sub-nationally, but need to be evaluated and improved as new knowledge emerges. Ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) is an emerging approach that recognizes that ecosystem services play an important role in reducing people's vulnerability to climate change. The importance of ecosystem services is acknowledged in more than 50% of the NAPAs. Approximately 22% of the proposed projects include ecosystem activities for social well-being or adaptation, with most of them in support of other adaptation measures (e.g. infrastructure). These projects deal mainly with regulating services (soil rehabilitation, erosion control and water regulation) and provisioning services (food, fibre and fuel wood). They also have the potential to promote integrative and cross-sectoral adaptation, as many of them consider multiple ecosystem services and beneficiary sectors. However, more technical, political and financial support is needed to foster the role of ecosystem services in adaptation.
In developing countries where economies and livelihoods depend largely on ecosystem services, policies for adaptation to climate change should take into account the role of these services in increasing the resilience of society. This ecosystem-based approach to adaptation was the focus of an international workshop on “Adaptation to Climate Change: the role of Ecosystem Services” held in November 2008 in Costa Rica. This article presents the key messages from the workshop.
Background:
Salt marshes lie between many human communities and the coast and have been presumed to protect these communities from coastal hazards by providing important ecosystem services. However, previous characterizations of these ecosystem services have typically been based on a small number of historical studies, and the consistency and extent to which marshes provide these services has not been investigated. Here, we review the current evidence for the specific processes of wave attenuation, shoreline stabilization and floodwater attenuation to determine if and under what conditions salt marshes offer these coastal protection services.
Methodology/principal findings:
We conducted a thorough search and synthesis of the literature with reference to these processes. Seventy-five publications met our selection criteria, and we conducted meta-analyses for publications with sufficient data available for quantitative analysis. We found that combined across all studies (n = 7), salt marsh vegetation had a significant positive effect on wave attenuation as measured by reductions in wave height per unit distance across marsh vegetation. Salt marsh vegetation also had a significant positive effect on shoreline stabilization as measured by accretion, lateral erosion reduction, and marsh surface elevation change (n = 30). Salt marsh characteristics that were positively correlated to both wave attenuation and shoreline stabilization were vegetation density, biomass production, and marsh size. Although we could not find studies quantitatively evaluating floodwater attenuation within salt marshes, there are several studies noting the negative effects of wetland alteration on water quantity regulation within coastal areas.
Conclusions/significance:
Our results show that salt marshes have value for coastal hazard mitigation and climate change adaptation. Because we do not yet fully understand the magnitude of this value, we propose that decision makers employ natural systems to maximize the benefits and ecosystem services provided by salt marshes and exercise caution when making decisions that erode these services.
Renewed attention to policies for adapting to climate change cannot come too soon for Roger Pielke, Jr, Gwyn Prins, Steve Rayner and Daniel Sarewitz.
Significant investments are needed to support the global transition to a low-carbon, climate-resilient future. Unlocking private capital at scale is essential to fill the current financing gap and achieve transformational impacts, but there are several barriers to overcome for this to happen.
This study sought to analyze the role that national development banks (NDBs) could play to bridge the financing gap by scaling up private investment. Their knowledge and long-standing relationship with the local private sector places them in a privileged position to understand local barriers to investment as well as risks and opportunities.
Drawing empirical evidence from NDBs’
experiences within the Latin American and the Caribbean (LAC) region, the study finds that while many NDBs are already piloting an array of financial and nonfinancial instruments to promote and leverage private low-carbon investments, these institutions are at diverse stages of “readiness” to fully promote climate-related programs. Several NDBs still need to build and/or strengthen capacity and acquire experience in the structuring, risk assessment, and monitoring of climate-relevant projects in order to take a more central role in the international climate finance landscape.