The influence of governance structure on local resilience: Enabling and constraining factors for climate change adaptation in practice

Abstract

Across the globe, the need to adapt is urgent. Coastal communities are particularly vulnerable to climate stressors such as rising sea levels and erosion, while more extreme and variable weather events interact to accentuate risk. While local governments are increasingly recognized as a central local actor in climate adaptation, research continues to focus on resilience at municipal or national levels of government, limiting circumstances for analysis of differing governance structure. Regional government structure can vary drastically, offering a novel opportunity to explore the effects of governance structure on local capacity for resilience. Framed through a resilience lens, this comparative qualitative study analyzes adaptation within two distinct regional governments, finding that unique structural attributes of regional governments can enable or constrain climate adaptation planning. For instance, increased adaptive capacity, through greater access to critical resources, can facilitate action. In contrast, implementation can be constrained by regional agent priorities and a lack of adaptation consideration in granular planning tools. This study sheds light on how to better utilize strengths of regional governments, and how to integrate interventions within broader policy frameworks to overcome common adaptation barriers.