Climate change is a cause for concern both globally and locally. In order for it to be tackled holistically, its governance is an important topic needing scientific and practical consideration. Climate change governance is an emerging area, and one which is closely related to state and public administrative systems and the behaviour of private actors, including the business sector, as well as the civil society and non-governmental organisations. Questions of climate change governance deal both with mitigation and adaptation whilst at the same time trying to devise effective ways of managing the consequences of these measures across the different sectors. Many books have been produced on general matters related to climate change, such as climate modelling, temperature variations, sea level rise, but, to date, very few publications have addressed the political, economic and social elements of climate change and their links with governance. This book will address this gap. Furthermore, a particular feature of this book is that it not only presents different perspectives on climate change governance, but it also introduces theoretical approaches and brings these together with practical examples which show how main principles may be implemented in practice.

Climate change adaptation in South Asia is redefining the roles of different actors in the governance processes. The existing governance lack capacity, knowledge, and leadership skills to manage the uncertainties and challenges posed by climate change. This book aims to explain how the governance of climate change adaptation and mitigation is being shaped in the region and how climate change is impacting upon the governance of natural resources. Although the focus is on South Asia, the editors draw a wide range of contributions from northern and southern communities and across various agro-ecological contexts. Climate Change Governance and Adaptation: Case Studies from South Asia sees the changing climate not only as an environmental problem but as a societal challenge and discusses the governance challenges from an interdisciplinary social science perspective across different levels: local, state, and national. Discusses also the challenges and opportunities for increasing the resilience of the society through effective governance around climate change. A top down approach to govern climate change adaptation may not yield desired outcomes; instead the book emphasizes the need to integrate issues of equity, into climate governance and polices. The lessons learned from different cases across South Asia help readers have a better and deeper understanding of the relationships between governance and climate change. Given the diversity of themes covered, this book will appeal not only to researchers and practitioners in the climate change community, but also to those with a broader interest in governance processes.

As greenhouse gas emissions and temperatures at the poles continue to rise, so do damages from extreme weather events affecting countless lives. Meanwhile, ambitious international efforts to cut emissions (Kyoto, Copenhagen) have proved to be politically ineffective or infeasible. There is hope, however, in adaptive governance—an approach that has succeeded in some local communities and can be undertaken by others around the globe. This book provides a political and historical analysis of climate change policy; shows how adaptive governance has worked on the ground in Barrow, Alaska, and other local communities; and makes the case for adaptive governance as a complementary approach in the climate change regime.

This book presents the latest science and social science research on whether the world can adapt to climate change.

Climate change governance is in a state of enormous flux. New and more dynamic forms of governing are appearing around the international climate regime centred on the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). They appear to be emerging spontaneously from the bottom up, producing a more dispersed pattern of governing, which Nobel Laureate Elinor Ostrom famously described as 'polycentric'. This book brings together contributions from some of the world's foremost experts to provide the first systematic test of the ability of polycentric thinking to explain and enhance societal attempts to govern climate change. It is ideal for researchers in public policy, international relations, environmental science, environmental management, politics, law and public administration. It will also be useful on advanced courses in climate policy and governance, and for practitioners seeking incisive summaries of developments in particular sub-areas and sectors. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

Governments all over the world are struggling with the question of how to adapt to climate change. They need information not only about the issue and its possible consequences, but also about feasible governance strategies and instruments to combat it. At the same time, scientists from different social disciplines are trying to understand the dynamics and peculiarities of the governance of climate change adaptation. This book demonstrates how action-oriented research methods can be used to satisfy the need for both policy-relevant information and scientific knowledge. Bringing together eight case studies that show inspiring practices of action research from around the world, including Australia, Denmark, Vietnam and the Netherlands, the book covers a rich variety of action-research applications, running from participatory observation to serious games and role-playing exercises. It explores many adaptation challenges, from flood-risk safety to heat stress and freshwater availability, and draws out valuable lessons about the conditions that make action research successful, demonstrating how scientific and academic knowledge can be used in a practical context to reach useful and applicable insights. The book will be of interest to scholars and students of climate change, environmental policy, politics and governance.