Abstract
Sea-level rise (SLR) confronts coastal societies and stakeholders with increasing hazards and coastal risks with large uncertainties associated to these changes. Adaptation to SLR requires societal and policy decision-making to consider these changing risks, which are in turn defined by socio-economic development objectives and the local societal context. Here, we review some of the key challenges facing governments, stakeholders and scientists in adapting to SLR, and key aspects of successful adaptation, by exploring different approaches to SLR and coastal adaptation planning in three western European countries, the Netherlands, Germany and the United Kingdom. Several common challenges of SLR adaptation emerge across the different settings, including the inherent uncertainty regarding future conditions, the significant social and socio-economic consequences, the consideration and distribution of (residual) risk over communities, and the long legacy of present-day decisions that affect future risk and management options supporting future generations. These challenges are addressed differently in the three countries, e.g. in the governance level at which adaptation is initiated, although common elements also emerge. One common emerging element is adaptive pathways planning, which entails dynamic decision-making that breaks uncertain decisions into manageable elements or steps over time, while keeping options for the future. Another common element is the development of effective local science-policy interfaces, as engagement of local decision-makers and citizens is essential to manage conflicting interests. Lastly, we find that social and communication sciences have great potential to support effective science-policy interfaces, e.g. though identifying societal tipping points. Yet, in decisions on SLR adaptation, insights from these fields are rarely used to date. We conclude that supporting science-policy interactions for adaptation decision-making at relevant (inter)national to local scales through tailored multi-disciplinary scientific assessments is an important way forward for SLR adaptation in Europe.
Original language | English |
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Article number | 100403 |
Pages (from-to) | 1-11 |
Number of pages | 11 |
Journal | Climate Risk Management |
Volume | 35 |
Early online date | 25 Jan 2022 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2022 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:The webinar “Living with sea Level Rise” at the ECCA21 conference and this manuscript have been supported by the conference secretariat and by the project RECEIPT (REmote Climate Effects and their Impact on European sustainability, Policy and Trade) which received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under Grant agreement No. 820712 . It was also supported by the research project GoCoase, funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), Germany , grant number 1LA1812A/C and the research project CoCliCo (Coastal Climate Core Service) which received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under Grant agreement No. 101003598. We are grateful for the contribution of Jacobus Hofstede (Ministry of Energy, Agriculture, the Environment, Nature and Digitalization of Schleswig-Holstein) and Annemiek Roeling (manager of Dutch ministry of infrastructure Knowledge Program on Sea Level Rise) for their contributions to the webinar. Also three anonymous reviewers are acknowledged for their constructive comments on earlier versions of this manuscript.
Funding Information:
The webinar ?Living with sea Level Rise? at the ECCA21 conference and this manuscript have been supported by the conference secretariat and by the project RECEIPT (REmote Climate Effects and their Impact on European sustainability, Policy and Trade) which received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under Grant agreement No. 820712. It was also supported by the research project GoCoase, funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), Germany, grant number 1LA1812A/C and the research project CoCliCo (Coastal Climate Core Service) which received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under Grant agreement No. 101003598. We are grateful for the contribution of Jacobus Hofstede (Ministry of Energy, Agriculture, the Environment, Nature and Digitalization of Schleswig-Holstein) and Annemiek Roeling (manager of Dutch ministry of infrastructure Knowledge Program on Sea Level Rise) for their contributions to the webinar. Also three anonymous reviewers are acknowledged for their constructive comments on earlier versions of this manuscript.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022
Funding
The webinar “Living with sea Level Rise” at the ECCA21 conference and this manuscript have been supported by the conference secretariat and by the project RECEIPT (REmote Climate Effects and their Impact on European sustainability, Policy and Trade) which received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under Grant agreement No. 820712 . It was also supported by the research project GoCoase, funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), Germany , grant number 1LA1812A/C and the research project CoCliCo (Coastal Climate Core Service) which received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under Grant agreement No. 101003598. We are grateful for the contribution of Jacobus Hofstede (Ministry of Energy, Agriculture, the Environment, Nature and Digitalization of Schleswig-Holstein) and Annemiek Roeling (manager of Dutch ministry of infrastructure Knowledge Program on Sea Level Rise) for their contributions to the webinar. Also three anonymous reviewers are acknowledged for their constructive comments on earlier versions of this manuscript. The webinar ?Living with sea Level Rise? at the ECCA21 conference and this manuscript have been supported by the conference secretariat and by the project RECEIPT (REmote Climate Effects and their Impact on European sustainability, Policy and Trade) which received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under Grant agreement No. 820712. It was also supported by the research project GoCoase, funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), Germany, grant number 1LA1812A/C and the research project CoCliCo (Coastal Climate Core Service) which received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under Grant agreement No. 101003598. We are grateful for the contribution of Jacobus Hofstede (Ministry of Energy, Agriculture, the Environment, Nature and Digitalization of Schleswig-Holstein) and Annemiek Roeling (manager of Dutch ministry of infrastructure Knowledge Program on Sea Level Rise) for their contributions to the webinar. Also three anonymous reviewers are acknowledged for their constructive comments on earlier versions of this manuscript.
Funders | Funder number |
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Ministry of Energy, Agriculture, the Environment, Nature and Digitalization of Schleswig-Holstein | |
Horizon 2020 Framework Programme | |
Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung | 1LA1812A/C, 101003598 |
Horizon 2020 | 820712 |
Keywords
- Climate adaptation
- Coastal management
- Sea Level Rise