Mapping governance of adaptation to climate change in Switzerland

Braunschweiger, Dominik; Pütz, Marco; Heidmann, Frank; Bludau, Mark-Jan

doi:10.1080/21681376.2018.1549507

Cited by 6 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 5 publications

(5 reference statements)

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“…This is nothing new; studies have long held that individual motivations play an important role in how policies are locally implemented (McLaughlin, 1987). However, the universal importance of such factors across all our cases indicates that directed and regulatory mainstreaming may be lacking in Switzerland (Braunschweiger, Pütz, Heidmann, & Bludau, 2018). The resulting low goal clarity makes implementation dependent on the initiative and governance skills of local stakeholders.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 93%

“…Adaptation in Switzerland has so far largely been limited to organizing inter‐sectoral coordination at the national level and in some cantons and cities through a combination of inter‐organizational and programmatic mainstreaming, which we call cooperative mainstreaming. Concrete, local adaptation measures have so far been sporadic (Braunschweiger et al, 2018; Widmer, 2018). Difficulties in progressing from coordination measures at higher levels to concrete, local measures are well‐documented in EPI literature (Jordan & Lenschow, 2009).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Climate adaptation in practice: How mainstreaming strategies matter for policy integration

Braunschweiger

Pütz

2021

Env Pol Gov

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With some level of climate change now inevitable, climate policy around the world has evolved in recent decades to include adaptation to the impacts of climate change. Most industrialized countries have formulated national adaptation strategies to meet this challenge. However, the implementation of on‐the‐ground measures is lagging. To analyze the implementation process and possible reasons for the implementation gap, we take a closer look at how the integration of adaptation goals into various sectoral policies—often called mainstreaming—has been handled on different administrative levels in Switzerland. Going beyond traditional compilations of barriers to climate change adaptation, we analyze the use of six different mainstreaming strategies across cases and levels and the reasons for their success or lack thereof. We find that different actors at all administrative levels have successfully employed programmatic mainstreaming in combination with inter‐organizational mainstreaming to foster horizontal cooperation. We call this strategy cooperative mainstreaming. Some pioneers even managed to channel their successes into advances in regulatory mainstreaming. However, the lack of systematic regulatory and directed mainstreaming on the national and cantonal levels largely limits adaptation actions on lower levels to those cases where the major impetus derives from extreme events or proactive individuals on the ground. We conclude that the adaptation implementation gap in Switzerland largely stems from the lack of political commitment to promoting local adaptation at the national and cantonal levels.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 93%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate adaptation in practice: How mainstreaming strategies matter for policy integration

Braunschweiger

Pütz

2021

Env Pol Gov

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“…Some researchers conceptualise adaptation to climate change as merely a new policy issue or even an increased focus on existing issues such as natural hazard management (Birkmann and Mechler 2015;Leitner et al 2020). However, while Switzerland has a long history of managing adaptation relevant issues such as flood prevention (Ingold and Gavilano 2020), comprehensive national adaptation policies have only begun development in the last 13 years (Braunschweiger et al 2018). Based on their assessment of governmental and non-governmental actors concerned with adaptation as well as the number of sectors covered by the national adaptation strategy and action plan, Massey and Huitema (2016) classify adaptation to climate change in Switzerland as a newly emergent policy field.…”

Section: Theory and Analytical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As such, the development of said expertise should be a priority during the early stages of adaptation policy. Indeed, there is ample empirical evidence that the development and communication of knowledge is a cornerstone of current adaptation policy in Europe (Bauer and Steurer 2015;Biesbroek et al 2010;Braunschweiger et al 2018;Massey and Huitema 2016). Brokers are of key importance to reduce these issues of fragmentation and uncertainty, to distribute knowledge amongst relevant actors and to coordinate adaptation measures.…”

Section: Theory and Analytical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cross-scale collaboration for adaptation to climate change: a two-mode network analysis of bridging actors in Switzerland

Braunschweiger

2022

Reg Environ Change

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Adaptation to the impacts of climate change has become an increasingly important policy field in recent years, but it is complicated due to ambiguous responsibilities. To ensure the coherence of adaptation policies, cooperation is necessary between sectors as well as between administrative levels. As such, fragmentation between both sectors and levels is a huge challenge for the successful formulation and implementation of climate change adaptation policies. Bridging actors who coordinate actions across levels and sectors play an important role in overcoming this challenge. Through means of social network analysis, I investigate which actors occupy key bridging roles in the multi-level and federalist arrangement of Swiss climate change adaptation governance. I analyse a two-mode network of actors and climate change adaptation measures, conducting a complete inventory of all measures and policies carried out in the context of the Swiss adaptation strategy as well as all actors involved in their design, funding and implementation. I find that federal governmental actors occupy the most important bridging roles. However, for the most part, they seem more focused on building cross-sectoral ties than on building cross-level ties. The Swiss Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) stands out as the one national authority that managed to establish almost as many cross-level ties as cross-sectoral ties through the coordination of an adaptation funding programme. Thus, while adaptation measures will primarily be implemented on the municipal level, higher level actors still have a vital role to play in promoting municipal efforts, fostering collaboration and reducing fragmentation.

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“…Both hint on complex issues of climate change adaptation governance and stakeholder management. Governance and stakeholder issues related to household adaptation, though not often extensively or explicitly addressed in adaptation research and climate adaptation fund administration, have diverse ramifications and implications for climate change adaptation and financing in all sectors (Biesbroek 2012 ; Geerdink et al 2015 ; Braunschweiger et al 2018 ).…”

Section: Literature Review: Migrant Remittances As Sources Of Climate Change Adaptation Fundingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Can remittances contribute to financing climate actions in developing countries? Evidence from analyses of households’ climate hazard exposure and adaptation actors in SE Nigeria

Maduekwe

Adesina

2021

Mitig Adapt Strateg Glob Change

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Migrant remittances are potentially significant sources of funding for climate change adaptation and resilience building in developing countries. However, very little is understood about the linkages between climate actions and remittances at the household level. It is not clear how remittances can affect households’ responses to climate change. This paper presents evidence from analyses of the associations between remittances to households, their climate hazard exposure, and adaptation actors. It uses concurrent data on international remittances receipts, three climate change related hazards (flooding, intense and irregular rainfall), and main adaptation actors (self/family, community, government, and NGOs) from over 600 households in South Eastern Nigeria. The results showed that household incidence of remittances is low (15%) while exposure to climate hazards is higher (flooding: 41.2%, intense rainfall: 47.1%, irregular rainfall: 29.9%). Nominal (contingency coefficient) associations between remittances and household climate hazard exposure and remittances and household adaptation actors were mostly moderate and insignificant. Therefore, households that received remittances and those that did not were not significantly different in terms of their exposure to climate hazard and main actors in climate adaptation. Self/families were the main actors in household climate actions. Governments and NGO actors were less prominent. The results suggest that unregulated remittances have limited impact on household climate hazard exposure and adaptive actions. However, there are indications that the contribution of remittances to financing climate adaptation may be enhanced by addressing issues with cost of remitting and remittee understanding of climate change to increase remittances volumes, incidence, and use.

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Mapping governance of adaptation to climate change in Switzerland

Cited by 6 publications

References 5 publications

Climate adaptation in practice: How mainstreaming strategies matter for policy integration

Climate adaptation in practice: How mainstreaming strategies matter for policy integration

Cross-scale collaboration for adaptation to climate change: a two-mode network analysis of bridging actors in Switzerland

Can remittances contribute to financing climate actions in developing countries? Evidence from analyses of households’ climate hazard exposure and adaptation actors in SE Nigeria

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