Abstract
Faced with sea level rise and the intensification of extreme events, human populations living on the coasts are developing responses to address local situations. A synthesis of the literature on responses to coastal adaptation allows us to highlight different adaptation strategies. Here, we analyze these strategies according to the complexity of their implementation, both institutionally and technically. First, we distinguish two opposing paradigms – fighting against rising sea levels or adapting to new climatic conditions; and second, we observe the level of integrated management of the strategies. This typology allows a distinction between four archetypes with the most commonly associated governance modalities for each. We then underline the need for hybrid approaches and adaptation trajectories over time to take into account local socio-cultural, geographical, and climatic conditions as well as to integrate stakeholders in the design and implementation of responses. We show that dynamic and participatory policies can foster collective learning processes and enable the evolution of social values and behaviors. Finally, adaptation policies rely on knowledge and participatory engagement, multi-scalar governance, policy monitoring, and territorial solidarity. These conditions are especially relevant for densely populated areas that will be confronted with sea level rise, thus for coastal cities in particular.
Highlights
Addressing sea level rise (SLR) resulting from climate change is one of the greatest societal challenges of this century
Governance Archetypes for Responding to Sea Level Rise. Based on this typology of responses, we propose four governance archetypes for responding to SLR that allow us to rank the degree of complexity of implementing the different approaches to coastal adaptation
Policy makers’ and coastal risk managers’ understanding of coastal adaptation has evolved over the last two decades, as have the approaches, policy processes, and the responses developed in order to address coastal hazards
Summary
Addressing sea level rise (SLR) resulting from climate change is one of the greatest societal challenges of this century. Based on information and recommendations from IPCC reports as well as on locally led research, elected representatives and coastal risk managers exert their organizational efforts at different scales to better define effective adaptation strategies.
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