Synopsis

More severe flooding and erosion, more intense storms, rising seas, increased salinization, and higher storm surges are some of the new realities around the world that make coastal areas particularly vulnerable to climate change impacts.

This paper examines case studies from three regions— Bangladesh, Malabon City (Philippines) and Cartegana (Colombia) —that are making progress on integrating climate adaptation into planning and implementing on-the-ground actions to build coastal resilience.

The paper identifies a common set of factors that have contributed to these successes: having political will and champions to lead the process of mainstreaming adaptation and disaster risk reduction into policies and legislation; having access to credible climate information to inform resilience plans; coordinating across diverse stakeholders who form robust alliances; and allocating domestic funds combined with international funding. The enabling factors and challenges shared by these locations can serve as models and inspiration to other countries that are grappling with similar issues as they work to narrow the “implementation gap” between planning and action.

Key Findings

  • Despite facing various challenges, all three locations studied for this paper have made progress both in mainstreaming and implementing DRR and adaptation; some early benefits, including lives saved, are already apparent.
  • A whole-of-government approach is essential to mainstreaming adaptation and closing the gap between planning and implementation.
  • Credible, capable institutions dedicated to collecting objective, relevant, and easily accessible information are key in designing effective coastal resilience plans. These institutions identify and analyze climate risks to create comprehensive vulnerability assessments, which are the basis for the development of coastal resilience policies.
  • Parliamentarians, members of other legislative bodies (e.g., municipal or city councils), and other leaders play an important role in building climate resilience. So do policies and/or legislation that mandate the integration of climate adaptation into development planning processes—which is vital for accelerating the integration of climate adaptation into coastal resilience policies.
  • The availability of funding from both domestic and international sources is essential for addressing the implementation gap.

Executive Summary

Highlights

  • Coastal areas are generally highly vulnerable to climate change impacts, and the need to reduce risks and build resilience is great.
  • While a growing number of countries are integrating, or mainstreaming, adaptation into coastal development plans, many struggle to implement proposed actions on the ground, leading to an implementation gap.
  • This paper shares case studies from Bangladesh, the Philippines, and Colombia that illustrate successful national and subnational experiences with both planning and implementing adaptation measures to build coastal resilience and reduce the risk of disasters.
  • The paper identifies a common set of factors that have contributed to these successes: having political will and champions to lead the process of mainstreaming adaptation and disaster risk reduction into policies and legislation; having access to credible climate information to inform resilience plans; coordinating across diverse stakeholders who form robust alliances; and allocating domestic funds combined with international funding.
  • Challenges to adaptation action that the case studies highlight include a lack of interministerial coherence and coordination; fragmented information; competing priorities; and insufficient funding.
  • Recommendations include improving access to easily understandable climate information; supporting climate leaders; instituting laws and policies that mandate integration of adaptation throughout government; and having reliable structures to manage domestic and international funds.

Summary

More severe flooding and erosion, more intense storms, rising seas, increased salinization, and higher storm surges are some of the new realities around the world that make coastal areas particularly vulnerable to climate change impacts. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) estimates that by 2050 more than 1 billion people will be living in low-lying coastal zones, at increased risk of sea level rise and cyclones, even in the most moderate emissions scenario (IPCC 2019).

The IPCC’s special report Global Warming of 1.5°C, published in 2018, underlines the importance of preparing for more extreme weather events that are a consequence of climate change (IPCC 2018). As countries across the world work to become resilient to more variable and extreme weather events, they are facing challenges of how best to integrate, or mainstream, climate change–related information on risks, hazards, and vulnerabilities into development planning, and how to choose the best adaptation measures in response. Integrating adaptation into national and subnational disaster risk reduction (DRR) and coastal resilience strategies is therefore essential.

This paper examines case studies from three countries—Bangladesh, the Philippines, and Colombia—that are making progress on integrating climate adaptation into planning and implementing on-the-ground actions to build coastal resilience. The enabling factors and challenges shared by these locations can serve as models and inspiration to other countries that are grappling with similar issues as they work to narrow the “implementation gap” between planning and action.

Recommendations

  • Promote a whole-of-government approach in which officials from all ministries and sectors, not only adaptation specialists, are engaged in addressing the key challenges of integrating climate adaptation into DRR policies and action plans.
  • Enable national and international climate information providers to produce regularly updated, easily understandable information relating to risks, hazards, and vulnerabilities.
  • Build the capacities of climate change leaders to understand and use relevant information and analysis supplied by climate data providers. With greater support, they can be more effective at mustering resources across sectors and raising awareness and funds to implement solutions for coastal resilience.
  • Empower parliamentarians, members of other legislative bodies (e.g., municipal or city councils), and other leaders to play an important role by integrating climate risks and adaptation measures into legislative and policy processes.
  • Ensure that capacities and structures are in place to manage domestic and international funds in line with an agreed-upon implementation plan. This will help ensure the best use of available funding at national and subnational levels of government.