Abstract
In this study, we look at the role which water policy entrepreneurs play in promoting and stimulating climate adaptation measures in international river basins. In a Dutch-German case study in the Rhine delta, we explore the range of strategies that policy entrepreneurs employ in cross-border water management to effectively anchor and embed climate adaptation in the water policy debate.We focus on climate adaptation on the local and regional scale in the Deltarhine region where increased flooding and prolonged drought periods are expected under the current climate change scenarios with a considerable impact on flood protection, agricultural activities, drinking water and ecosystem development.We analyse the impact of policy entrepreneurs while coping with the challenging cross-border setting and dealing with structural differences in national systems such as the legal and institutional framework. It is shown that whilst the European water guidelines advocate a river basin approach across borders, the guidelines do not (yet) play a catalyst role regarding climate adaptation, and the presence and activities of policy entrepreneurs contribute in putting climate adaptation on the cross-border policy agenda.Finally, marked differences in the presence of entrepreneurs in Germany and the Netherlands are observed for which two important complementary explanations are offered relating to contextual elements of power asymmetry and dependency as well as different policy styles and organisational cultures in both countries.
Highlights
Setting the sceneThe water sector is arguably one of the most important sectors in which climate adaptation efforts are concentrated as the hydrological cycle will be severely impacted by a changing climate
These key individuals can be described as water policy entrepreneurs who play a pivotal role in pushing the climate adaptation related issues on the regional water policy agenda
They share the general characteristics of policy entrepreneurs such as a persevering ability and willingness over long periods of time, in the order of at least several years, to put climate adaptation repeatedly on the policy agenda of different cross-border institutions and venues for Dutch-German cooperation and information exchange
Summary
Setting the sceneThe water sector is arguably one of the most important sectors in which climate adaptation efforts are concentrated as the hydrological cycle will be severely impacted by a changing climate. The future water situation and developments in the water sector have been examined by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) under different climate change scenarios and point to increased vulnerability to water scarcity, droughts and floods (IPCC 2014). Scenario studies on the effects of climate change commissioned by the International Commission for the Protection of the Rhine (ICPR 2011) show a considerable decrease of average precipitation in the Rhine catchment for the second half of this century during the summer period (reduction 10–30%) with a comparable decrease of low flow discharges. We focus on the local and regional scale where increased flooding and prolonged drought periods are expected under the current climate change scenarios with a considerable impact on flood protection, agricultural activities, drinking water supply as well as ecosystem development
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
