Effective Governance of Climate Change Adaptation

Climate change adaptation (CCA) requires the design of institutions and policies that integrate efficiency, equity, and effectiveness (EEE) objectives of systems at national and sub-national levels. Multi-level and multi-sectoral perspectives are offered in this paper incorporating the following dimensions: normative aspects of institutions, mechanisms for resource allocation, role of transaction costs (TC), adaptive efficiency (AE) and dynamic flexibility to respond to uncertainties as well as new information. An approach involving stakeholders in their capacity-based roles, contributing toward the reduction of TC and enhancing dynamic AE, is formalized in a multi-level and multisectoral framework. Infrastructural pre-requisites for adopting this approach are identified. Among these are organizational mechanisms and technologies for information sharing, active learning via monitoring and evaluation, contingency planning at appropriate levels, and provision of incentives for efficient performance of stakeholders. A matrix offers plausible scenarios of institutional and resource allocation mechanisms that are geared toward CCA incorporating EEE aspects. The above approaches are largely normative. In the second part of the paper, select case studies of the evolving frameworks from the UK and the USA are examined to highlight the scope for pragmatic institutional reforms to enable improved governance of CCA in each of these systems at national and sub-national levels. The latest Intergovernmental Agency Task Force Reports of the US Federal Government are also reviewed and potential for improvements suggested. Paper for presentation at the International Symposium on the Governance of Adaptation, Amsterdam, March 22-23, 2012. Effective Governance of Climate Change Adaptation