Manifestations of adaptive capacity: An institutional analysis of adaptation of a local stormwater drainage system

Climate Law ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 201-217 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tineke Ruijgh-van der Ploeg
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Land Use ◽  
Adaptive Capacity ◽  
Institutional Design ◽  
Institutional Analysis ◽  
Drainage System ◽  
Water System ◽  
Engineering System ◽  
Water Drainage ◽  
Adaptation To Climate Change

Local institutions are important in shaping the outcome of adaptation to climate change. In the case of adaptation of local man-made systems, like a water drainage system, both the engineering system design and the institutional design need to be changed. What aspects of institutional design are relevant for the adaptive capacity of such systems? A well-documented case of adaptation in Dutch local water management was studied in order to reveal the manifestations of adaptation. A four-by-four matrix was used for institutional analysis to understand the interdependencies of institutions in the operation, design, financing, and building of water systems. In this case, four types of “institution” facilitated the adaptation of the water system: (1) new principles, norms, and values of local inhabitants with regard to water-system management, tax allocation, and land-use zoning; (2) the presence of stable, national laws that grant responsibility for adaptation of the physical system to local government; (3) adaptable, formal institutions that can be adjusted in response to local changes; and (4) a formalized master plan for implementation and a sufficient budget for steering the water board and stakeholders in their interactions. These lessons were drawn from a case of adaptation to changes in land use: the economy and demography of the area had changed the demand for stormwater drainage. Planned adaptation in response to other changes, like climate change, may benefit from a similar combination of institutions to integrate decisions on operation, design, financing, and building of public water works.

Adaptive capacity and regional water governance in north-western Germany

Water Policy ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 15 (5) ◽  
pp. 794-815 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin Grecksch
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Adaptive Capacity ◽  
Salt Water ◽  
Water Governance ◽  
Metropolitan Region ◽  
Salt Water Intrusion ◽  
Communication Tool ◽  
Coastal Zones ◽  
Adaptation To Climate Change ◽  
Study Region

Successful adaptation to climate change requires flexible adaptation strategies which consider regional ecological, economic and social circumstances. Coastal zones are considered to be significantly vulnerable to climate change impacts. The projected impacts of climate change in the metropolitan region of Bremen–Oldenburg, Germany (a coastal area), are, for example, rising sea level, salt water intrusion, temporary groundwater scarcity in the summer and increased (heavy) rainfalls. This paper uses an existing framework, the Adaptive Capacity Wheel (ACW), complemented by two additional dimensions: adaptation motivation and adaptation belief. The objectives were first, to assess the adaptive capacity of water governance in the study region, and second, to show how the ACW can be used as an approach and a communication tool with stakeholders to identify strengths and weaknesses. Based on this, a further objective was to discover what lessons and recommendations can be drawn that could help water experts and stakeholders in the future. The results show a high adaptive capacity and that the addition of the psychological dimensions was valuable. However, it is important to look closely at each dimension assessed by the ACW. The key recommendations are: to improve public participation; to ensure better coordination; to raise awareness; and to reduce the lack of political will to overcome adaptation barriers.

Helping the Helpless: Contribution of Rural Extension Services to Smallholder Farmers’ Climate Change Adaptive Capacity and Adaptation in Rural Ghana

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 244-268 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Asare-Nuamah ◽  
Ebo Botchway ◽  
Justina A. Onumah
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Adaptive Capacity ◽  
Smallholder Farmers ◽  
Active Role ◽  
Adaptation To Climate Change ◽  
Extension Services ◽  
Farming Communities ◽  
Multiple Strategies ◽  
Transfer Of Skills

While there is no doubt that extension services play an active role in promoting smallholder farmers’ adaptive capacity and adaptation to climate change, there is a dearth of information and research on how this institution champions climate change adaptation in rural farming communities in Ghana. This study employed a qualitative case study design and interviewed 15 extension officers and 26 smallholder farmers to understand how extension services enhance smallholder farmers’ climate change adaptive capacity and adaptation in the rural Adansi North District in Ghana. The findings indicate that extension services adopt multiple strategies to build the adaptive capacity of farmers to climate change. Through the transfer of skills and knowledge, technology and innovations, supply of inputs, technical advice and liaison role with existing local institutions, farmers are able to adapt to climate change. The study further revealed that extension services are hindered by geographical, sociocultural and economic challenges which affect their alignment and fitness to effectively assist smallholder farmers. The study recommends strengthening the capacity of the extension institution. Moreover, more experts must be trained to provide special, targeted and important services to smallholder farmers in respect of climate change sensitization and adaptation.

The Adaptation Fund of the Kyoto Protocol: A model for financing adaptation to climate change?

Climate Law ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 415-437 ◽  
Author(s):  
Britta Horstmann ◽  
Achala Chandani Abeysinghe
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Kyoto Protocol ◽  
Institutional Design ◽  
National Level ◽  
Aid Effectiveness ◽  
Direct Access ◽  
Practical Implementation ◽  
Adaptation To Climate Change ◽  
The Status ◽  
International Climate

The Adaptation Fund of the Kyoto Protocol is seen by many as a model for financing adaptation activities, which should also play a strong role in the institutional design of the Green Climate Fund under the UNFCCC. The article analyses whether the status of operationalization of the Adaptation Fund meets international institutional criteria and requirements for an effective and efficient fund arrangement. These are derived from the UNFCCC and the Paris Agenda on Aid Effectiveness. The analysis shows that the Adaptation Fund meets most of the funding requirements. Due to its institutional features, particularly the direct-access modality, the Adaptation Fund has the potential to practically link international climate change with development finance for adaptation to climate change. However, the analysis also shows that there are a number of challenges remaining, including criteria which the fund does not meet yet and the practical implementation of fund operations, particularly at the national level.

scholarly journals North central Victoria – climate change and land-use: potentials for third century in a timeless land

2010 ◽  
Vol 122 (2) ◽  
pp. 161 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ian Mansergh
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Land Use ◽  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Extreme Weather Events ◽  
Catchment Management ◽  
Private Land ◽  
Adaptation To Climate Change ◽  
North Central ◽  
The North ◽  
Land Use And Management

For the 21st century, scenarios of future climate under global warming suggest that Bassian-Eyrean bioclimatic region of northern Victoria, centred on the North Central Catchment Management Authority (NCCMA), will become markedly warmer and drier. Significant climate change is a real possibility midcentury and some basic bio-physical attributes underpinning the current ecology, land-use and management will be altered. Societal adaptation to climate change will include enhancing landscape resilience and changes to the mix of inter-related ecosystem services. The increasing understanding of these inter-relationships will allow for the creation of a more holistic quantification and production of landscape services. In combination, these challenge the past land-use paradigm on the driest, inhabited continent. Following the mid-19th century gold rushes, land-use in the NCCMA represented the epitome of the colonial land-use paradigm through clearing for agriculture and pastoralism. Victoria has long had the highest percentage private land of any Australian state. The NCCMA catchment is the most denuded of native vegetation, with the smallest percentage of public land and conservation reserves, and is now the centre of a continental concentration of bioregions under high environmental stress. The original primacy of agriculture was fulfilled, sometimes under adverse circumstances, but resultant landscape legacies persist within the relative economic decline of Australian agriculture. The amelioration of these within a future land stewardship that is water-stressed, carbon constrained and prone to extreme weather events is a major challenge. Exploring landscape adaptation, the simple questions arise: From what? To what? This contribution examines broad land-use in the NCCMA in the long term context of climate change and adaptation, land-use and the perceived valuation of ecosystem services from the landscape. The increasing realisation of the interconnectedness of these phenomena and the necessity for ecologically sustainable agriculture provide enhanced drivers for the evolution of new landscape meanings in the context of an inter-generational equity and climate change response.

Infectious Diseases and Climate Vulnerability in Morocco

2017 ◽  
pp. 138-162 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohamed Behnassi ◽  
Kholoud Kahime ◽  
Samia Boussaa ◽  
Ali Boumezzough ◽  
Mohammed Messouli
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Infectious Diseases ◽  
Adaptive Capacity ◽  
Scientific Evidence ◽  
Adaptation To Climate Change ◽  
Health Governance ◽  
Vector Borne Diseases ◽  
Vector Borne ◽  
Climate Vulnerability

Climate change is expected to affect the distribution, prevalence and life cycle of several infectious diseases. This scenario is relevant to Morocco since the country is considered by many IPCC assessments reports as a climate change hotspot with a high vulnerability to many expected impacts. Given this existing vulnerability, this chapter aims to highlight relevant vector-borne diseases, the risks of their reemergence in many vulnerable regions and the pressing need to understand their dynamics within a context marked by knowledge gaps and limited scientific evidence; underline the problematic aspects of health adaptation to climate change and the current difficulties in terms of policy and governance to manage climate-health linkages; and finally undertake an assessment of Morocco's adaptive capacity from a health perspective and formulate recommendations for effective climate-health governance and policy.

Infectious Diseases and Climate Vulnerability in Morocco

2017 ◽  
pp. 1056-1074
Author(s):  
Mohamed Behnassi ◽  
Kholoud Kahime ◽  
Samia Boussaa ◽  
Ali Boumezzough ◽  
Mohammed Messouli
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Infectious Diseases ◽  
Adaptive Capacity ◽  
Scientific Evidence ◽  
Adaptation To Climate Change ◽  
Health Governance ◽  
Vector Borne Diseases ◽  
Vector Borne ◽  
Climate Vulnerability

Climate change is expected to affect the distribution, prevalence and life cycle of several infectious diseases. This scenario is relevant to Morocco since the country is considered by many IPCC assessments reports as a climate change hotspot with a high vulnerability to many expected impacts. Given this existing vulnerability, this chapter aims to highlight relevant vector-borne diseases, the risks of their reemergence in many vulnerable regions and the pressing need to understand their dynamics within a context marked by knowledge gaps and limited scientific evidence; underline the problematic aspects of health adaptation to climate change and the current difficulties in terms of policy and governance to manage climate-health linkages; and finally undertake an assessment of Morocco's adaptive capacity from a health perspective and formulate recommendations for effective climate-health governance and policy.

Adaptation to Climate Change for Sustainable Development

2016 ◽  
pp. 363-391
Author(s):  
Soumyananda Dinda
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Adaptive Capacity ◽  
Human Society ◽  
Adaptation To Climate Change ◽  
Future Directions ◽  
Global Issue

Climate change is an important global issue. For sustainable development human society must adopt the climate change and reduce vulnerability. This chapter provides an overview on the climate change and its effects, in response how human societies adopt it across the globe. Chapter reviews major papers on adaptation to climate change. Based on major important articles this chapter provides clarity of the concept of adaptation, types of adaptation, measurement of adaptation and determinants of adaptive capacity. It also highlights on sustainable development and shows possible future directions of adaptation and limitations.

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