Are we adapting to climate change?

Local governments in the driving seat? A comparative analysis of public and private responsibilities for adaptation to climate change in European and North-American cities

“…They offer empirical material to study, since the level of implementation of adaptation is still rather low (e.g. Berrang-Ford et al, 2011;Bulkeley, 2013;Measham et al, 2011;Preston et al, 2011). Furthermore, they are selected for their locations in the temperate zone of Europe and North America, assuming that the nature and scale of the adaptation issues is quite similar.…”

“…In order to become less vulnerable to climate change, city governments in developed countries have started to plan for and take action on adaptation to climate change (Berrang-Ford, Ford, & Paterson, 2011;IPCC, 2013;Preston, Westaway, & Yuen, 2011). Besides city governments, the involvement of private actors such as citizens, businesses, project developers and housing associations will be critical for the planning and implementation of urban climate adaptation, since adaptation is also required on and around private property.…”

Systematic review approaches for climate change adaptation research

“…Reflecting the tradition of systematic reviews in the health sciences, health-related adaptation was the focus of six articles (Walker et al 2011;Hosking and Campbell-Lendrum 2012;Bouzid et al 2013;Cheng and Berry 2013;Poutiainen et al 2013;Toloo et al 2013). The most dominant adaptation focus within which systematic reviews have penetrated has been reviewing lessons from, and trends in, adaptation governance (Hardee and Mutunga 2010;Berrang-Ford et al 2011;Ford et al 2011;Pearce et al 2011;Ford et al 2012a, b;Larsen et al 2012;Murtinho and Hayes 2012;Biesbroek et al 2013;Kamau and Mwaura 2013;Vink et al 2013). Systematic reviews have not been restricted to this focus, however, with articles considering tourism (Kajan and Saarinen 2013), business management (Linnenluecke et al 2013), transport (Eisenack et al 2012), urban planning (Bowler et al 2010), human displacement (McLeman 2011;McDowell 2013), human management of ecosystem services (Heller and Zavaleta 2009;Charlton and Arnell 2011;Kolstrom et al 2011;Shepard et al 2011), and case studies of generalized adaptation research (Murtinho and Hayes 2012;Ford et al 2012a, b).…”

“…We then consider research questions from adaptation policy and practice, and critically assess the ways in which systematic methods can be adapted to address complex policyrelevant research questions, diverse and sometimes-sparse literature sources, and analysis of qualitative and heterogeneous information. Herein, we define adaptation policy and practice as per Berrang-Ford et al (2011) and Lesnikowski et al (2011) to include tangible and intentional actions to reduce vulnerability, increase resilience, and adapt to the impacts of climate change. This paper is part of a special edition commissioned by the UK Department for International Development (DFID) and Canada's International Development Research Centre (IDRC) to inform the development of their Collaborative Adaptation Research Initiative in Africa and Asia (CARIAA) program.…”

Climbing the Adaptation Planning Ladder: Barriers and Enablers in Municipal Planning

“…Instead, the focus is on the other or 'cobenefits' of a policy (United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), 2011). Indeed, research suggests that at the national level at least, climate change is rarely the primary or stated motivation for adaptive action (Berrang-Ford et al, 2011), but the extent of incorporation of climate adaptation measures within other policy frameworks is largely unknown. With anticipated increases in sea level, floods and stormwater intrusion (Frumhoff et al, 2007), most planners know there is pressing need for policy, but remain largely unable to publically frame the problem as one of climate change (Ruth and Coelho, 2007).…”