Climate Change Adaptive Capacity in Santiago de Chile: Creating a Governance Regime for Sustainability Planning

Abstract

For most urban areas, the challenges of adaptation are as urgent as those of mitigation. This is particularly the case where adaptive capacity is weak, particularly in low‐ and middle‐income countries, and the benefits of global mitigation in the short term will be experienced beyond 2050. A focus on adaptive capacity‐building in these vulnerable settings is imperative. Much of the emphasis in climate change since the early 1990s has been on basic science and how public policy should respond to it; less attention has been paid to the governance implications and connections with wider development processes. This article explores the governance challenges of adaptation in the Santiago Metropolitan Region. It points to weaknesses in the water and energy sectors, which have highly sectoral, horizontally unintegrated institutional structures and instruments that pose significant challenges for adaptation. Such cases point to the need to engage with both the wider planning concerns of existing development strategies and the basic elements of transdisciplinarity, finance and human capital‐building, in order to forge a more integrated adaptation response. Without an engagement with the governance issue and wider debates around metropolitan planning and socioeconomic development, it is unlikely the response will move beyond a limited physical infrastructure investment programme.

Beyond inputs and outputs: Process‐oriented explanation of institutional change in climate adaptation governance

“…While at that time, the observed focus in the literature was largely on assessing impacts and vulnerability, the focus among social scientists has since shifted in the following decade: first, toward integrative views on the production of adaptive capacities (e.g., Barton, 2013;Engle & Lemos, 2010), and second, toward the assessment and measuring of adaptation progress (e.g., Araos et al, 2016;Reckien et al, 2018), notwithstanding other emerging critical currents, particularly concerning social asymmetries (e.g., Bulkeley, Edwards, & Fuller, 2014) or transformative imperatives bound up with adaptation (e.g., Pelling, O'Brien, & Matyas, 2015). The problem of explaining processes of change in adaptation governance is a long-standing challenge, not only for climate adaptation specifically (Barton, 2013;Biesbroek et al, 2015;Birkmann et al, 2014) but also within environmental governance more broadly (Biermann et al, 2010;Cosens, Gunderson, & Chaffin, 2014;Folke, Hahn, Olsson, & Norberg, 2005). This is not an easy task.…”

“…Co-operation and Development) nation, with a population of approximately 7 million (~40% of the national population) that is projected to reach 8 million by 2030 (Barton, 2013;Krellenberg & Hansjürgens, 2014). It faces significant climate risks particularly relating to water, including more frequent and intense droughts (Bonelli, Vicuña, Meza, Gironás, & Barton, 2014), winter flooding (Krellenberg & Hansjürgens, 2014), and melting glaciers (MMA/CONAMA, 2011) affecting seasonal and long-term water supplies and impacts that disproportionately affect vulnerable groups (Barton, 2013;Krellenberg et al, 2014).…”

“…development of adaptation plans by six municipalities in inner Santiago for the first time(AdaptChile, 2016). Moreover, municipalities grapple with the centralized nature of policymaking(Barton, 2013(Barton, , p. 1921, have little competence with water issues(Interviews 7, 8, 9, 16, and 18), and have limited budgets for adaptation (Romero-Lankao et al, 2013, p. 795; Interview 7 and 8), especially in poorer parts of the city (Krellenberg et al, 2014, Interview 2). This is significant because of a history of lack of coordination between municipalities, lack of previous engagement in climate change adaptation(Interviews 2, 15, and 2 Although steps are being made toward decentralizing political powers in recent years, including election of regional councilors since 2009 (Law 20.390) and introduction of an elected Regional Governor from 2020 (Law 20.990).…”

Rural Electrification Efforts Based on Off-Grid Photovoltaic Systems in the Andean Region: Comparative Assessment of Their Sustainability

“…Nonetheless, their motivation is still commonly limited to reducing local environmental effects (as people are directly affected by some energy projects) [42]. Moreover, resistance is often not against non-RE generation projects, but against any form of generation (RE and non-RE), like e.g., hydro-energy [95][96][97][98][99] or even PV systems [42]. Like in Peru and Ecuador, Chilean politicians often lack awareness on broader and long-term impacts related to climate change for example, and they are usually driven by ideological and neoliberal ideas [100].…”

Sustainability of rural electrification programs based on off-grid photovoltaic (PV) systems in Chile

“…This has recently led to social movements, which successfully stopped several energy generation projects (e.g., HidroAysén, Alto Maipo, Castilla, Punta Acalde) [102][103][104][105]. However, according to a social scientist, these movements seem to be mainly motivated by concerns about potential negative effects on the local communities (for example, direct pollution), and often, they also tend to embrace a form of "technology neutrality".…”