Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences

Climate adaptation barriers and opportunities in the United States: A focus on policy and decision making at the sub-national scale

Lisa Dilling

CSTPR/CIRES and Environmental Studies Program

As reported in the Fourth Assessment Report of the IPCC, even within countries with a high level of economic activity such as the United States, adaptive capacity is not necessarily commensurate with wealth and access to technology, and governance and social factors can be equally important influences on adaptive capacity. The same review indicated that adaptation activities are not evenly distributed within a region, and that public policy plays an important role in facilitating climate adaptation. Furthermore, recent research has suggested that despite calls for adaptation and the presence of planning efforts, adaptation actions on the ground are limited. Research has also demonstrated that many adaptation actions are taken in the context of other priorities, or motivated by other goals than reducing vulnerability to climate change. This paper focuses on two questions: what factors motivate communities to build adaptive capacity or take adaptive actions, and what role does information play in those decisions? These questions were studied for various aspects of climate-related decision making at the local policy level using a combination of interviews, document analysis, and survey research. Results are presented here from empirical studies of climate-related decision making at the local level in the areas of public lands management, hazard management and water supply management in several localities in the United States. This study specifically highlights the barriers and opportunities in decision making within local-scale governance processes for these areas. Preliminary results indicate that while opportunities to initiate or catalyze adaptation activities may come from many different sources, barriers such as lack of resources, competing priorities, uncertainty about the actions needed, and lack of relevant information can be powerful disincentives.