IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/masfgc/v22y2017i8d10.1007_s11027-016-9725-9.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Looking under the hood of local adaptation plans: shedding light on the actions prioritized to build local resilience to climate change

Author

Listed:
  • Missy Stults

    (School of Natural Resources and Environment, The University of Michigan)

  • Sierra C. Woodruff

    (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)

Abstract

In the face of a changing climate, many United States (US) local governments are creating plans to prepare. These plans layout how a community is vulnerable to existing and future changes in climate as well as what actions they propose taking to prepare. The actions included in these plans provide insight into what local governments feel they have the ability to undertake, as well as what actions they believe are important to building resilience. To date, little to no analysis has been conducted on the content of these plans, leaving researchers, practitioners, and those supporting communities with limited understanding of what gaps need to be filled or how best to support locally prioritized climate action. This paper analyzes the content of 43 stand alone climate adaptation plans from US local communities to identify the types of actions proposed and how those actions compare to what researchers indicate the communities should be prioritizing based on regional climate projections. The results indicate that local communities include numerous and varied actions in their adaptation plans and that the majority of communities are selecting actions that are theoretically appropriate given projected changes in regional climate. Yet some types of actions, such as building codes and advocacy, are not being widely used. These results contrast with previous studies, which found that local communities focus primarily on capacity building approaches. Findings also demonstrate that plans rarely contain significant details about how actions will be implemented, raising questions about whether plans will translate into real-world projects.

Suggested Citation

  • Missy Stults & Sierra C. Woodruff, 2017. "Looking under the hood of local adaptation plans: shedding light on the actions prioritized to build local resilience to climate change," Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Springer, vol. 22(8), pages 1249-1279, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:masfgc:v:22:y:2017:i:8:d:10.1007_s11027-016-9725-9
    DOI: 10.1007/s11027-016-9725-9
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11027-016-9725-9
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11027-016-9725-9?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Nathan Engle, 2013. "The role of drought preparedness in building and mobilizing adaptive capacity in states and their community water systems," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 118(2), pages 291-306, May.
    2. Xinyu Fu & Mark Svoboda & Zhenghong Tang & Zhijun Dai & Jianjun Wu, 2013. "An overview of US state drought plans: crisis or risk management?," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 69(3), pages 1607-1627, December.
    3. Ellen Bassett & Vivek Shandas, 2010. "Innovation and Climate Action Planning," Journal of the American Planning Association, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 76(4), pages 435-450.
    4. Jennifer A. Horney & Ashley I. Naimi & Ward Lyles & Matt Simon & David Salvesen & Philip Berke, 2012. "Assessing the Relationship Between Hazard Mitigation Plan Quality and Rural Status in a Cohort of 57 Counties from 3 States in the Southeastern U.S," Challenges, MDPI, vol. 3(2), pages 1-11, August.
    5. Sierra C. Woodruff & Missy Stults, 2016. "Numerous strategies but limited implementation guidance in US local adaptation plans," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 6(8), pages 796-802, August.
    6. Linda Shi & Eric Chu & Jessica Debats, 2015. "Explaining Progress in Climate Adaptation Planning Across 156 U.S. Municipalities," Journal of the American Planning Association, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 81(3), pages 191-202, July.
    7. Louise Bedsworth & Ellen Hanak, 2010. "Adaptation to Climate Change," Journal of the American Planning Association, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 76(4), pages 477-495.
    8. Barry Smit & Mark Skinner, 2002. "Adaptation options in agriculture to climate change: a typology," Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Springer, vol. 7(1), pages 85-114, March.
    9. Klaus Eisenack & Susanne C. Moser & Esther Hoffmann & Richard J. T. Klein & Christoph Oberlack & Anna Pechan & Maja Rotter & Catrien J. A. M. Termeer, 2014. "Explaining and overcoming barriers to climate change adaptation," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 4(10), pages 867-872, October.
    10. Rosina Bierbaum & Joel Smith & Arthur Lee & Maria Blair & Lynne Carter & F. Chapin & Paul Fleming & Susan Ruffo & Missy Stults & Shannon McNeeley & Emily Wasley & Laura Verduzco, 2013. "A comprehensive review of climate adaptation in the United States: more than before, but less than needed," Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Springer, vol. 18(3), pages 361-406, March.
    11. World Bank, 2010. "World Development Report 2010," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 4387.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Bülow, Catharina Wolff von & Liu, Xiufeng, 2020. "Ready-made oTree applications for the study of climate change adaptation behavior," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    2. Julie M. Carter & Patricia D. Koman & Lorraine Cameron & Aaron Ferguson & Patrick Jacuzzo & Jason Duvall, 2021. "Assessing perceptions and priorities for health impacts of climate change within local Michigan health departments," Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, Springer;Association of Environmental Studies and Sciences, vol. 11(4), pages 595-609, December.
    3. Ashbaugh, Melissa & Kittner, Noah, 2024. "Addressing extreme urban heat and energy vulnerability of renters in Portland, OR with resilient household energy policies," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 190(C).
    4. Aparna Kumari & Tim G. Frazier, 2021. "Evaluating social capital in emergency and disaster management and hazards plans," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 109(1), pages 949-973, October.
    5. Reckien, D. & Salvia, M. & Pietrapertosa, F. & Simoes, S.G. & Olazabal, M. & De Gregorio Hurtado, S. & Geneletti, D. & Krkoška Lorencová, E. & D'Alonzo, V. & Krook-Riekkola, A. & Fokaides, P.A. & Ioan, 2019. "Dedicated versus mainstreaming approaches in local climate plans in Europe," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 948-959.
    6. Amy Quandt & Daniel Grafton & Kayla Gorman & Paige M. Dawson & Celina Ibarra & Elizabeth Mayes & Corrie Monteverde & Daniel Piel & Phevee Paderes, 2023. "Mitigation and adaptation to climate change in San Diego County, California," Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Springer, vol. 28(1), pages 1-28, January.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Qiao Hu & Zhenghong Tang & Martha Shulski & Natalie Umphlett & Tarik Abdel-Monem & Frank E. Uhlarik, 2018. "An examination of midwestern US cities’ preparedness for climate change and extreme hazards," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 94(2), pages 777-800, November.
    2. Saatvika Rai, 2020. "Policy Adoption and Policy Intensity: Emergence of Climate Adaptation Planning in U.S. States," Review of Policy Research, Policy Studies Organization, vol. 37(4), pages 444-463, July.
    3. Stevens, Mark R. & Senbel, Maged, 2017. "Are municipal land use plans keeping pace with global climate change?," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 1-14.
    4. Lisa Dilling & Elise Pizzi & John Berggren & Ashwin Ravikumar & Krister Andersson, 2017. "Drivers of adaptation: Responses to weather- and climate-related hazards in 60 local governments in the Intermountain Western U.S," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 49(11), pages 2628-2648, November.
    5. Wanlu Liu & Lulu Liu & Jiangbo Gao, 2020. "Adapting to climate change: gaps and strategies for Central Asia," Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Springer, vol. 25(8), pages 1439-1459, December.
    6. Anthony Charles Milordis & William Hale Butler & Tisha Joseph Holmes, 2023. "What is slowing progress on climate change adaptation? Evaluating barriers to planning for sea level rise in Florida," Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Springer, vol. 28(8), pages 1-26, December.
    7. Scott E. Kalafatis, 2017. "Identifying the Potential for Climate Compatible Development Efforts and the Missing Links," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(9), pages 1-14, September.
    8. Tisha Joseph Holmes & Ava Holt & Dorette Quintana English, 2022. "Progress of Local Health Department Planning Actions for Climate Change: Perspectives from California, USA," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(13), pages 1-17, June.
    9. Xinyu Fu & Jie Song, 2017. "Assessing the Economic Costs of Sea Level Rise and Benefits of Coastal Protection: A Spatiotemporal Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(8), pages 1-14, August.
    10. Castells-Quintana, David & del Pilar Lopez-Uribe, Maria & McDermott, Thomas K.J., 2018. "A review of adaptation to climate change through a development economics lens," Working Papers 309605, National University of Ireland, Galway, Socio-Economic Marine Research Unit.
    11. Qiao Hu & Zhenghong Tang & Lei Zhang & Yuanyuan Xu & Xiaolin Wu & Ligang Zhang, 2018. "Evaluating climate change adaptation efforts on the US 50 states’ hazard mitigation plans," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 92(2), pages 783-804, June.
    12. Shin Tu & Siyu Yu, 2023. "Urban Planning for Climate Change: Comparing Climate Adaptation Plans between Taipei and Boston," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-16, January.
    13. Tu Dam Ngoc Le, 0. "Climate change adaptation in coastal cities of developing countries: characterizing types of vulnerability and adaptation options," Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Springer, vol. 25(5), pages 739-761.
    14. Tu Dam Ngoc Le, 2020. "Climate change adaptation in coastal cities of developing countries: characterizing types of vulnerability and adaptation options," Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Springer, vol. 25(5), pages 739-761, May.
    15. Vicki M. Bier & Yuqun Zhou & Hongru Du, 2020. "Game-theoretic modeling of pre-disaster relocation," The Engineering Economist, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 65(2), pages 89-113, April.
    16. Jie Song & Xinyu Fu & Ruoniu Wang & Zhong-Ren Peng & Zongni Gu, 2018. "Does planned retreat matter? Investigating land use change under the impacts of flooding induced by sea level rise," Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Springer, vol. 23(5), pages 703-733, June.
    17. Julia A. Ekstrom & Louise Bedsworth & Amanda Fencl, 2017. "Gauging climate preparedness to inform adaptation needs: local level adaptation in drinking water quality in CA, USA," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 140(3), pages 467-481, February.
    18. Jessica E. Taylor & Cristina Poleacovschi & Michael A. Perez, 2023. "Climate change adaptation trends among Indigenous peoples: a systematic review of the empirical research focus over the last 2 decades," Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Springer, vol. 28(6), pages 1-28, August.
    19. Hyunjung Ji & Mark Patrick Tate, 2021. "Spillover effects of central cities on sustainability efforts in a metropolitan area," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 54(1), pages 95-121, March.
    20. Shorna B. Allred & Allison M. Chatrchyan & Giorgi Tsintsadze, 2022. "Local municipal capacity for climate change action in New York State: Exploring the urban–rural divide," Review of Policy Research, Policy Studies Organization, vol. 39(5), pages 570-601, September.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:masfgc:v:22:y:2017:i:8:d:10.1007_s11027-016-9725-9. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.