Adaptation to extreme weather: identifying different societal perspectives in the Netherlands

Abstract

The intensity and occurrence of extreme weather events are expected to change with climate change. This change necessitates adaptive responses to extreme events, which need to take into account different societal perspectives, in order to be robust. In this paper, we explore the perspectives of different social actors in the Netherlands with respect to extreme weather events and ways to adapt to these events. The paper reports on a set of 41 interviews, using the repertory grid technique. The results were analyzed, to identify (a) the perspectives that stakeholders hold as most important for adaptation to extreme weather events; (b) the determinants of differences in perspectives. We find six different perspectives, all of which prioritize different adaptive actions. Producing robust adaptive responses which include different perspectives is therefore not a straightforward matter and is likely to result in win-lose situations. Further, differences in perspectives were not closely related to different sectors the interviewees belonged to. Thus, the traditional approach of involving different sectors to discuss and produce adaptation measures may be too limiting and needs to be supplemented to involving actors with different perspectives. The level of concern and level of information influenced the ways interviewees perceive adaptation priorities for extreme weather events. Participation in information events does not always result in perceived need to prepare for extreme events, something that adaptation communication needs to take into account.

Policy options for addressing climate change, with a focus on ecosystem based adaptation: a case study of Guyana

“…Scientists are still trying to understand the true nature of extreme weather events and the linkage to climate change and while some studies have been published on the socio-economic implications of extreme weather events (Rosenzweig et al, 2001;Uleberg et al, 2014;Vasileiadou, et al, 2014) not many scientific papers are available on the science and impacts of extreme weather events. More comprehensive studies are required on impacts and forecasting of extreme weather events.…”

Assessing climate change readiness in Seychelles: implications for ecosystem-based adaptation mainstreaming and marine spatial planning

“…Unlike planning and governance approaches that integrate scenarios and stakeholders in decision-making (Carlsen et al 2013;Vasileiadou et al 2014), the analytical tools in this paper focused on both process and outcomebased adaptation tracking (Ford et al 2013). The tracking and monitoring of readiness relies on sets of quantitative and qualitative metrics from a variety of sources over two decades.…”

Agroclimatic Zones and Yield of Agricultural Crops in the Changing Conditions of Regional Climate

“…При этом в странах Европейского Союза (ЕС) уже не просто изучают влияние климата на те или иные отрасли экономики, но и прогнозируют и исследуют их возможные экономические последствия [11,12,13]. Межправительственная группа экспертов, созданная при Организации Объединенных Наций, предоставляет регулярные отчеты об изменении климата, его последствиях и потенциальных рисках, а также предлагает варианты адаптации по смягчению последствий для 195 странчленов [14].…”