Facing the heat: Barriers to mainstreaming climate change adaptation in local government in the Western Cape Province, South Africa

Pasquini, Lorena; Cowling, Richard M.; Ziervogel, Gina

doi:10.1016/j.habitatint.2013.05.003

Cited by 161 publications

(99 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…For instance, the local municipality cited Section 152(1) of the Constitution which states that Bthe objects of local government are to promote a safe and healthy environment,â ccepting this as reason enough to Btake climate adaptation on as [their] responsibility( despite there being no requirement in South African law for public entities to undertake climate adaptation specifically). In the municipal case, this finding is extremely interesting, given its lack of resemblance to the findings of other studies, both international (Burch 2010;Measham et al 2011) and local (e.g., Pasquini et al 2013; but see Ziervogel and Parnell 2014 for an exception). Such studies have highlighted how, in the absence of explicit mandates for adaptation, some municipalities have claimed either to be unable or unwilling to engage in adaptation owing to their already crowded agendas.…”

Section: Characterizing the Nodessupporting

confidence: 46%

“…The combined use of SNA and nodal governance offers an explanation for how a group of actors can overcome the Block in^effects of existing legislative, regulatory, and organizational practices, which elsewhere appear to be inhibiting municipal areas from achieving EbA or other forms of effective environmentally related governance (e.g., Pasquini et al 2013;Wamsler et al 2014).…”

Section: Assessment Of Governance Nodes and Networkmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Local governments, as the level of government closest to the ground, have a major role to play in the achievement of climate change adaptation. Local governments generally hold important powers in sectors relevant to the effective governance of EbA, such as spatial planning, water management, or disaster management (e.g., Bulkeley 2010;Pasquini et al 2013). However, appropriate and effective EbA governance requires the involvement of numerous actors, as a landscape is seldom ever owned, used, or managed by a single stakeholder.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Nodes and networks in the governance of ecosystem-based adaptation: the case of the Bergrivier municipality, South Africa

2017

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New forms of governance that foster multi-level and collaborative action have been identified as key to climate change adaptation. Ecosystem-based adaptation is emerging as an important type of adaptation response. Despite its recognized promise, it remains a challenging task to conceptualize governance regimes for it because of the involvement of numerous actors across the landscape scale. Both multi-level and collaborative forms of governance are required to involve relevant actors in decision-making and related actions. We explore the applicability of the theory of nodal governance, in conjunction with social network theory, to provide a framework for operationalizing the concepts of multi-level and collaborative governance. We use the Bergrivier municipal area of South Africa as a case study, focusing on organizations (nodes) that have the potential to implement ecosystem-based adaptation. We show that a nodal governance focus on institutional structures, mentalities, technologies, and resources can be highly effective for understanding the factors supporting or constraining ecosystem-based adaptation. A focus on the number and strength of network connections that actors share highlights how the numerous connections between organizations constitute an important opportunity for strengthening ecosystem-based adaptation outcomes in the future. The analysis suggests that in the Bergrivier municipal area, both agricultural best practices and restoration activities are side-lined compared to other activities (e.g., land use planning) despite the importance of the agricultural sector in the Bergrivier area. We argue that a nodal Climatic Change (2017) 144:271-285 DOI 10.1007/s10584-017-2008-y Electronic supplementary

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Section: Characterizing the Nodessupporting

confidence: 46%

Section: Assessment Of Governance Nodes and Networkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Nodes and networks in the governance of ecosystem-based adaptation: the case of the Bergrivier municipality, South Africa

2017

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“…116,123,127,128 The innovative work in some of the large cities in South Africa showcases how adaptation as a process has been prioritized. 116 Although there is recognition of climate change by many smaller municipalities the evidence for action is limited.…”

Section: Building On Institutional Strengths and Addressing Barriersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate change impacts and adaptation in South Africa

Ziervogel

New

Archer

et al. 2014

WIREs Climate Change

296

196

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In this paper we review current approaches and recent advances in research on climate impacts and adaptation in South Africa. South Africa has a well-developed earth system science research program that underpins the climate change scenarios developed for the southern African region. Established research on the biophysical impacts of climate change on key sectors (water, agriculture, and biodiversity) integrates the climate change scenarios but further research is needed in a number of areas, such as the climate impacts on cities and the built environment. National government has developed a National Climate Change Response White Paper, but this has yet to translate into policy that mainstreams adaptation in everyday practice and longer-term planning in all spheres and levels of government. A national process to scope long-term adaptation scenarios is underway, focusing on cross-sectoral linkages in adaptation responses at a national level. Adaptation responses are emerging in certain sectors. Some notable city-scale and project-based adaptation responses have been implemented, but institutional challenges persist. In addition, a number of knowledge gaps remain in relation to the biophysical and socio-economic impacts of climate change. A particular need is to develop South Africa's capacity to undertake integrated assessments of climate change that can support climate-resilient development planning. © 2014 The Authors. WIREs Climate Change published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. How to cite this article:WIREs Clim Change 2014Change , 5:605-620. doi: 10.1002 This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes. 4 Responding to these scenarios, policies have been developed, including the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme and more recently National Treasury consideration and planned implementation of carbon taxes. 5,6 Increasingly, however, the issue of climate adaptation is coming to the fore. In the context of South Africa's urgent socio-economic developmental needs and threatened ecosystem services, adaptive responses that reduce vulnerability to current as well as future climate variability and change are critical. Reducing the so-called 'adaptation deficit', that is exposure and sensitivity to the present-day climate variability and observed change, is an important dimension of long-term adaptation planning. 7 Responses at the national level have started to focus on integrated development trajectories more broadly. South Africa's new National Development Plan 2030 8 goes some way toward reframing climate change as a development challenge. Several government departments across all three spheres of government-national, provincial, and local-are now developing climate change strategies and/or plans.To develop a coherent national adaptation response, there is a need to integrate cli...

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“…For example, researchers examined mainstreaming in development assistance in Mozambique (Sietz et al 2011), urban planning in The Netherlands (Uittenbroek et al 2013), municipal planning in South Africa (Pasquini et al 2013), development planning in Bangladesh (Ayers et al 2014), and environmental assessment in Indonesia (Hamdani et al 2014). Although these studies enrich the literature in mainstreaming CCA, significant knowledge gaps remain.…”

Section: Mainstreaming Climate Change Adaptation Into Local Land-use mentioning

confidence: 99%

Examining the challenges in mainstreaming climate change adaptation into local land-use planning: The case of Albay, Philippines

Cuevas¹

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Mainstreaming climate change adaptation (CCA) is an approach that links adaptation and sustainable development goals by integrating climate change information, concerns, and considerations into existing development planning, and policy-and decision-making processes. However, a gap exists in the operationalisation of mainstreaming, mainly because the tools and methodologies in mainstreaming neglect the institutional reforms needed in the approach. This thesis focused on mainstreaming CCA into local land-use planning, and asked "How can mainstreaming of CCA into local land-use planning be understood?" and "How can the challenges in the operationalisation of mainstreaming be overcome?" To answer these questions, a four-stage mixed methodology was devised and successfully applied in examining the challenges in mainstreaming CCA into local land-use planning in Albay,Philippines. Local land-use planning in Albay is a "critical case" because it presents evidence of institutional capacity for long-term adaptation to climate change, with indication of transformational opportunities for mainstreaming. The methodology applied the mixed method, case study, and scorecard approaches, and it involved triangulation by data technique (i.e., document review, interview, survey, and key informant consultations). By using this methodology, the research generated 20 quantitative "mainstreaming indicators" and produced qualitative assessments of the state-of-play and the challenges in local mainstreaming of CCA. Analyses revealed that (1) mainstreaming challenges exist within a spectrum, with barriers and opportunities for adaptation representing the extreme ends of this spectrum; (2) barriers can be overcome and can transcend into opportunities for mainstreaming CCA; (3) barriers can be classified according to varying levels of severity;and (4) barriers themselves are interconnected, but to differing degrees. Also, the research showed that mainstreaming operationalisation involves a network of interacting institutions and institutional arrangements that transcend across governance scales. Likewise, the challenges in mainstreaming CCA encompass a chain of interactions or interplays within the network (of institutions). Accordingly, overcoming mainstreaming challenges necessitates broad institutional reforms that go beyond the institutional setting where CCA is to be integrated. A deep understanding of these concerns can help scholars, practitioners, planners, and decision-makers anticipate the types of challenges to be encountered during the mainstreaming process; determine the severity of the impacts of these challenges; and formulate strategies that will overcome the challenges.iii iv Declaration by authorThis thesis is composed of my original work, and contains no material previously published or written by another person except where due reference has been made in the text. I have clearly stated the contribution by others to jointly-authored works that I have included in my thesis.

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Facing the heat: Barriers to mainstreaming climate change adaptation in local government in the Western Cape Province, South Africa

Cited by 161 publications

References 30 publications

Nodes and networks in the governance of ecosystem-based adaptation: the case of the Bergrivier municipality, South Africa

Nodes and networks in the governance of ecosystem-based adaptation: the case of the Bergrivier municipality, South Africa

Climate change impacts and adaptation in South Africa

Examining the challenges in mainstreaming climate change adaptation into local land-use planning: The case of Albay, Philippines

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