Abstract
Small, low-lying islands are highly vulnerable to the effects of climate change and development of effective adaptation strategies is regarded as an urgent need. Through an analysis of existing and emerging climate adaptation policies, this paper assesses the climate adaptation response in the Cayman Islands. Despite its strong economic status and several developments in the areas of Planning, Environment and Tourism, alongside a draft Climate Change Policy, the study reveals a focus on symbolic policies and a lack of adopted “concrete” climate change adaptation policies. Although the draft National Climate Change Policy (2011) contains a comprehensive range of substantial policies, none has been formally adopted by the Cayman Islands Government. The practical implications of this situation in the face of climate change-related hazards are assessed in the context of Seven Mile Beach, the most heavily developed stretch of the Cayman Islands coast. Here, the prevailing response to shoreline change is stabilisation and, despite several opportunities to change the situation, recent policy developments have not stimulated changes in practice.
Highlights
Small islands are highly susceptible to the effects of a changing climate; climate change is expected to create new vulnerabilities and exacerbate existing ones (Nurse et al 2014; Duvat et al 2017; IPCC 2018)
We examine adaptation in the Cayman Islands, a British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean, whose physical geography and exposure to climatic hazards, but not the governance or economic status, is similar to several of the small island developing states in that region
We present an assessment of the climate change adaptation policies of the Cayman Islands and using a case study of the nation’s most developed coastal sector, comment on the practical implications of these policies
Summary
Small islands are highly susceptible to the effects of a changing climate; climate change is expected to create new vulnerabilities and exacerbate existing ones (Nurse et al 2014; Duvat et al 2017; IPCC 2018). Sea level rise is a particular threat to low-lying islands (Oppenheimer et al 2019; Martyr-Koller et al 2021), as the twin issues of shoreline change and flooding threaten coastal infrastructure and populations (Lewsey et al 2004; Ng et al 2019). This vulnerability is exemplified by extreme weather events such as hurricanes during which wind, storm surge and wave activity threaten human interests. Because of the particular risks to human populations and the supporting biophysical systems in small island nations, developing effective adaptation strategies is of high importance (Nalau et al 2015); Measham et al 2011). The variability in the physical and socio-economic character of small islands imparts a diverse set of climate change risk
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