Institutional tipping points in organizational climate change adaptation processes

Despite increasing awareness of the urgency to respond to climate change through adaptation, progress with climate change adaptation differs considerably across social contexts, even within seemingly uniform institutional environments. Only a part of these differences in engaging in adaptation can be explained by differentiated exposure or sensitivity to climate change hazards. Institutions, and institutional change, play important roles in enabling or constraining adaptation at the social group scale. This paper borrows the concept of tipping points from the natural sciences (Lenton et al. 2008; Lenton 2013) and applies it to social processes of climate change adaptation by focusing on processes of institutional change towards and beyond 'institutional' tipping points. Different stages of institutional change, where social groups switch from one dominant attractor regime to another, are discussed and illustrated. Empirical research conducted in two organizations in the local government and primary health care sector in Australia are used as examples for how institutional adaptation occurs and how institutional tipping points can be identified. Reflecting on these examples, the paper reviews the conceptual value-add of the institutional tipping points concept, while also discussing its epistemological and methodological limitations

Urban climate justice: creating sustainable pathways for humans and other species

Within the current climate of change (environmental, economic and social) what constitutes 'justice' is continually shifting in relation to vulnerable people, places and species. This is most acute in cities, where the majority of people now live and the need to create new pathways of co-existence between humans and other species has been recognized. The convergence of rapid urbanization and anthropogenic climate change has had disproportionately negative effects on the urban poor and those most marginalised (human and non-human). This paper provides a critical overview of the emergent field of urban climate justice which focuses on the complex links between environmental sustainability, human vulnerability and biodiversity loss in the natural environment. This is an interdisciplinary agenda demanding new forms of sustainability research and practical engagement underpinned by calls for a more integrated approach to eco-social justice principles around human and other species equity in cities

Institutional challenges to climate risk management in cities

Cities in many countries have begun taking on responsibility for identifying, analyzing and evaluating local risks resulting from climate change. The complexity of the task at hand provides a number of institutional challenges to city governments, civil society, and private businesses. Four key barriers to effective adaptation can be identified: understanding emerging scientific information about climate change hazards and their impact on cities; understanding how broader socio-economic processes influence urban vulnerabilities; integrating information about climate risk and vulnerability into local planning processes and development agendas; and the lack of suitable governance frameworks for climate risk management in cities. This review provides an overview of recent research that analyses these four areas of institutional constraint

Framing the challenge of climate change adaptation for Victorian local governments

Climate change adaptation, although dependent on our understanding of current and future climatic trends, is predominantly a social and institutional process. This becomes evident when studying how organisations actually respond to and prepare for climate change impacts. This paper explores the notion of framing climate change adaptation as a process of organisational development and change in the local government sector. Local governments, as the tier of government closest to the community, provide a raft of services to residents and businesses, many of which may be affected by the impacts of a changing climate. Local governments in Victoria and elsewhere have been at the forefront of assessing climatic risks and opportunities, as well as devising strategies and response measures to address these risks. The growing evidence of adaptation planning in the local government sector suggests that adaptation can be framed in many different ways, although a risk management perspective is frequently applied. Increasingly, adaptation to climate change is conceptualised as an ongoing, exible process that needs to be fully embedded in the local and organisational context. This paper discusses the conceptual and organisational framing of climate change adaptation, illustrated by examples of the diversity of adaptation approaches taken by local governments in Victoria

The political ecology of violence in Eastern Sri Lanka

In political ecology, violence is usually associated with conflicts over the control of natural resources. Up to now, political ecology has lacked a sound conceptual approach for analysing how violence that has its origin in political conflict induces environmental and social change. This article examines how the environment serves as an arena for exerting power, by using different forms of violence, affecting both ecosystems and the entitlements of the people who are dependent on natural resources. After a brief description of the role of violence in political ecology research, a conceptual framework for a political ecology of violence is laid out. In this framework, the notion of 'violent environments' introduced by Nancy Peluso and Michael Watts is blended with new approaches in livelihood research in which the political dimension of livelihood processes is emphasized. Case study material from eastern Sri Lanka, an area affected by prolonged violence and protracted conflict, is presented. This illustrates how violent struggles over environmental entitlements and the politicization of resource-based livelihoods created alternative systems of power and control over natural resources and triggered new processes of disentitlement and social vulnerabilit

Facilitating local climate change adaptation through transnational municipal networks

There is now a broad agreement that the majority of climate change adaptation efforts will need to take place at the local scale,makinglocalgovernmentanimportantplayerinthisfield. In many developed countries, local governments have been leading local adaptation efforts and innovation. In the local government sector, transnational municipal networks (TMNs) have been particularly instrumental in advancing knowledge and methods for climate change mitigation at the local scale, but less is known about their catalytic potential for local adaptation planning and implementation. This paper reviews recent studiesontheroleofTMNsanddiscusses theirpotential for adaptation in light of experiences with TMN-driven mitigation programs

Frame divergence in climate change adaptation policy: insights from Australian local government planning

Complex policy issues such as climate change adaptation can be interpreted in many different ways, resulting in different assumptions about their purpose and goals. Using material from a qualitative study in the Australian local government sector, this research shows that stakeholders involved in local adaptation policy formulation often do not have a shared view about the meaning and purposes of adaptation, although such shared understanding is commonly assumed in adaptation processes. Drawing on the frame-research literature and current conceptualisations of climate change adaptation, we argue that subconscious frame divergence can present a major challenge for effective organisational-level adaptation. Conversely, making frames and framing processes explicit is a first step towards clarifying adaptation goals and generating shared ownership of adaptation processes. While frames have been shown to be intrinsically subjective, we discuss three dominant frames that emerged from the study: avoiding disasters, community resilience, and averting organisational risk. We evaluate these in light of their theoretical origin and recent application towards climate change adaptation. Our research suggest that the 'averting organisational risks' frame is by far the most commonly activated frame. Individuals working in the community services sector frequently referred to the 'community resilience' frame, while the 'avoiding disasters frame' was used in public and policy discourse to circumvent the arguments of those sceptical about the existence and causes of climate change. We suggest that, by incorporating frame reflexivity into existing adaptation planning processes, a more diverse range of policy options can be explored, delivering more effective adaptation policies

Climate Change Risk Management for a Suburban Local Government: The Case of Kogarah, Australia

This paper examines the risk management process undertaken by Kogarah City Council to address climate change impacts using the tools and resources developed by ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability through its Adaptive and Resilient Communities Program. The paper focuses on the experiences, challenges and learnings of the council when working through the different stages of the program. It highlights some of the strategies and initiatives Kogarah City Council has implemented in order to achieve its main climate change adaptation goals and objectives. This paper is therefore intended as a 'case study' for other local governments planning to carry out a risk management process within their organisation. It is concluded that the key immediate outcome of the program for Kogarah City Council was internal capacity building that was achieved by enabling staff to collaboratively engage with each other in a structured and facilitated manner

Framing Climate Change Adaptation in Policy and Practice

Understanding current and future climate change impacts, and how best to respond, are major challenges for Australian communities. Decision-makers need to consider the range of potential impacts climate might have in the future, where and when these may occur and how different industries or parts of the community might respond. Such complex challenges are often labelled as 'wicked' and are best addressed using collaborative approaches involving shared learning across institutions. This working paper described what 'adapting' to climate change means by clarifying commonly used terminology and how these different concepts are used in policy development in Australia, and other parts of the world.). Framing occurs when people with different knowledge, experiences and personal backgrounds consider an activity or a challenge. Framing is a way of making sense of a topic (like climate change) from an individual perspective but it can also be used to arrive at a shared meaning and sense of purpose in addressing the challenge. The framing of adaptation can be explicit in strategies, policy documents, or procedural guidelines, but is often implicit in discussions, choices about planning approaches and processes, and the selection of assessment methodologies. Making framings explicit is important for establishing a collaborative process for adaptation. Explicit consideration of framing is also likely to influence the types of adaptation options and 'pathways' considered

Poverty and conflict: an analytical framework

There is increasing recognition among researchers, social activists as well as policy makers that violent conflict and poverty are inter-linked. In some instances, poverty can be identified as a factor directly contributing to conflict and in other instances conflict could be seen as creating new dimensions of poverty and deprivation. This chapter outlines some analytical concepts that may be useful for understanding the dynamics of the relationship between poverty and violent conflict. It also seeks to provide a framework for working with these concepts. This analytical framework and its constituent concepts will help students and practitioners to identify possible linkages between processes of poverty and the ways these processes can increase the potential for violent conflict within society