Exploring the contribution of climate change policies to integrated coastal zone management in Brazil

Abstract

The lawmaking body plays an important role in developing comprehensive policies and regulations that integrate aspects of climate mitigation and adaptation, and disaster risk reduction. The present research aims to understand how the effects of climate change in coastal areas have been addressed in the Brazilian policies and normative framework. A thorough review was carried out to identify and evaluate the main legislative documents and proposed management instruments available. Although only about half of the documents include detailed and explicit coastal guidelines, the analyzed normative framework presented a comprehensive scope that enables managers to tailor actions to their particular needs on the littoral. Policies addressing climate challenges are concentrated on a national scale. For instance, financial support actions to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions stand out, such as the economic resources presented by the National Climate Change Fund. Along the same lines, both the National Disaster Protection Policy and the Sectoral Plan for Sea Resources point out how the process of climate adaptation and disaster risk reduction is fundamentally related to financial investment in Marine Sciences and the permanent ocean and meteorological monitoring. Regarding the management instruments, only 13 are currently implemented, of which 10 explicitly address climate change. As an example, the Federal Coastal Zone Action Plan aims to establish future scenarios and subsidize adaptation strategies. In the state of Santa Catarina, the State Policy on Climate Change stands out as one of the most comprehensive available pieces of legislation, even though not specifically designed for the coastal zone.