IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v6y2014i4p2338-2356d35379.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Identifying Legal, Ecological and Governance Obstacles, and Opportunities for Adapting to Climate Change

Author

Listed:
  • Barbara Cosens

    (College of Law and Waters of the West, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID 83844, USA)

  • Lance Gunderson

    (Department of Environmental Sciences, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA)

  • Craig Allen

    (Geological Survey, Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE 68583, USA)

  • Melinda Harm Benson

    (Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA)

Abstract

Current governance of regional scale water management systems in the United States has not placed them on a path toward sustainability, as conflict and gridlock characterize the social arena and ecosystem services continue to erode. Changing climate may continue this trajectory, but it also provides a catalyst for renewal of ecosystems and a window of opportunity for change in institutions. Resilience provides a bridging concept that predicts that change in ecological and social systems is often dramatic, abrupt, and surprising. Adapting to the uncertainty of climate driven change must be done in a manner perceived as legitimate by the participants in a democratic society. Adaptation must begin with the current hierarchical and fragmented social-ecological system as a baseline from which new approaches must be applied. Achieving a level of integration between ecological concepts and governance requires a dialogue across multiple disciplines, including ecologists with expertise in ecological resilience, hydrologists and climate experts, with social scientists and legal scholars. Criteria and models that link ecological dynamics with policies in complex, multi-jurisdictional water basins with adaptive management and governance frameworks may move these social-ecological systems toward greater sustainability.

Suggested Citation

  • Barbara Cosens & Lance Gunderson & Craig Allen & Melinda Harm Benson, 2014. "Identifying Legal, Ecological and Governance Obstacles, and Opportunities for Adapting to Climate Change," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 6(4), pages 1-19, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:6:y:2014:i:4:p:2338-2356:d:35379
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/6/4/2338/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/6/4/2338/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. A. Park Williams & Craig D. Allen & Alison K. Macalady & Daniel Griffin & Connie A. Woodhouse & David M. Meko & Thomas W. Swetnam & Sara A. Rauscher & Richard Seager & Henri D. Grissino-Mayer & Jeffre, 2013. "Temperature as a potent driver of regional forest drought stress and tree mortality," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 3(3), pages 292-297, March.
    2. W. Neil Adger, 2003. "Social Capital, Collective Action, and Adaptation to Climate Change," Economic Geography, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 79(4), pages 387-404, October.
    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. Rong Sheng & Tuo Lin, 2019. "Evolutionary Assessment of the Ecological Governance under the Metropolitan Background: Evidence from Chongming Eco-Island, Shanghai, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(19), pages 1-23, September.
    2. Valérie Nicollier & Marcos Eduardo Cordeiro Bernardes & Asher Kiperstok, 2022. "What Governance Failures Reveal about Water Resources Management in a Municipality of Brazil," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-30, February.
    3. Craig R. Allen & Hannah E. Birge & Shannon Bartelt-Hunt & Rebecca A. Bevans & Jessica L. Burnett & Barbara A. Cosens & Ximing Cai & Ahjond S. Garmestani & Igor Linkov & Elizabeth A. Scott & Mark D. So, 2016. "Avoiding Decline: Fostering Resilience and Sustainability in Midsize Cities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(9), pages 1-24, August.
    4. Joan David Tàbara & Francesc Cots & Simona Pedde & Katharina Hölscher & Kasper Kok & Anastasia Lovanova & Tiago Capela Lourenço & Niki Frantzeskaki & John Etherington, 2018. "Exploring Institutional Transformations to Address High-End Climate Change in Iberia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(1), pages 1-22, January.
    5. Verena Rodorff & Marianna Siegmund-Schultze & Maike Guschal & Sonja Hölzl & Johann Köppel, 2019. "Good Governance: A Framework for Implementing Sustainable Land Management, Applied to an Agricultural Case in Northeast-Brazil," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(16), pages 1-20, August.
    6. Ralph Lasage & Sanne Muis & Carolina S. E. Sardella & Michiel A. Van Drunen & Peter H. Verburg & Jeroen C. J. H. Aerts, 2015. "A Stepwise, Participatory Approach to Design and Implement Community Based Adaptation to Drought in the Peruvian Andes," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(2), pages 1-32, February.
    7. S. A. Tulaeva, 2022. "Sustainable Development Governance in the Arctic Regions (Review of International Approaches and Research)," Administrative Consulting, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration. North-West Institute of Management., issue 2.
    8. Lorenzen, Matthew & Orozco-Ramírez, Quetzalcóatl & Ramírez-Santiago, Rosario & Garza, Gustavo G., 2021. "The forest transition as a window of opportunity to change the governance of common-pool resources: The case of Mexico’s Mixteca Alta," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 145(C).
    9. Thomas J. Timberlake & Courtney A. Schultz, 2017. "Policy, practice, and partnerships for climate change adaptation on US national forests," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 144(2), pages 257-269, September.

    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. Ana Raquel Nunes, 2021. "Exploring the interactions between vulnerability, resilience and adaptation to extreme temperatures," 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(3), pages 2261-2293, December.
    2. Tapio Riepponen & Mikko Moilanen & Jaakko Simonen, 2023. "Themes of resilience in the economics literature: A topic modeling approach," Regional Science Policy & Practice, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 15(2), pages 326-356, April.
    3. Friedman, Rachel S. & Guerrero, Angela M. & McAllister, Ryan R.J. & Rhodes, Jonathan R. & Santika, Truly & Budiharta, Sugeng & Indrawan, Tito & Hutabarat, Joseph A. & Kusworo, Ahmad & Yogaswara, Herry, 2020. "Beyond the community in participatory forest management: A governance network perspective," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    4. Ning Chen & Yifei Zhang & Fenghui Yuan & Changchun Song & Mingjie Xu & Qingwei Wang & Guangyou Hao & Tao Bao & Yunjiang Zuo & Jianzhao Liu & Tao Zhang & Yanyu Song & Li Sun & Yuedong Guo & Hao Zhang &, 2023. "Warming-induced vapor pressure deficit suppression of vegetation growth diminished in northern peatlands," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-13, December.
    5. Portia Adade Williams & Olivier Crespo & Mumuni Abu, 2020. "Assessing vulnerability of horticultural smallholders’ to climate variability in Ghana: applying the livelihood vulnerability approach," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 22(3), pages 2321-2342, March.
    6. N. Jones & J. Clark, 2014. "Social capital and the public acceptability of climate change adaptation policies: a case study in Romney Marsh, UK," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 123(2), pages 133-145, March.
    7. Islam, Md. Mofakkarul & Sarker, Md. Asaduzzaman & Al Mamun, Md. Abdullah & Mamun-ur-Rashid, Md. & Roy, Debashis, 2021. "Stepping Up versus Stepping Out: On the outcomes and drivers of two alternative climate change adaptation strategies of smallholders," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 148(C).
    8. Laura M. Canevari‐Luzardo & Frans Berkhout & Mark Pelling, 2020. "A relational view of climate adaptation in the private sector: How do value chain interactions shape business perceptions of climate risk and adaptive behaviours?," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(2), pages 432-444, February.
    9. Rao, Nitya & Singh, Chandni & Solomon, Divya & Camfield, Laura & Sidiki, Rahina & Angula, Margaret & Poonacha, Prathigna & Sidibé, Amadou & Lawson, Elaine T., 2020. "Managing risk, changing aspirations and household dynamics: Implications for wellbeing and adaptation in semi-arid Africa and India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).
    10. 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.
    11. Wilmer Martínez-Rivera & Thomaz Carvalhaes & Petar Jevtić & T. Agami Reddy, 2023. "A treatment-effect model to quantify human dimensions of disaster impacts: the case of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico," 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. 116(2), pages 2033-2068, March.
    12. Desai, Raj M. & Olofsgård, Anders, 2019. "Can the poor organize? Public goods and self-help groups in rural India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 121(C), pages 33-52.
    13. Gregory P. Marchildon & Elaine Wheaton & Amber J. Fletcher & Jessica Vanstone, 2016. "Extreme drought and excessive moisture conditions in two Canadian watersheds: comparing the perception of farmers and ranchers with the scientific record," 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. 82(1), pages 245-266, May.
    14. Torgler, Benno & Garcã A-Valiã‘As, Marã A A. & Macintyre, Alison, 2011. "Participation in environmental organizations: an empirical analysis," Environment and Development Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 16(5), pages 591-620, October.
    15. Orawan Kumdee & Md. Samim Hossain Molla & Kulwadee Kanavittaya & Jutamas Romkaew & Ed Sarobol & Sutkhet Nakasathien, 2023. "Morpho-Physiological and Biochemical Responses of Maize Hybrids under Recurrent Water Stress at Early Vegetative Stage," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-30, September.
    16. H.M. Tuihedur Rahman & Gordon M. Hickey, 2020. "An Analytical Framework for Assessing Context-Specific Rural Livelihood Vulnerability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(14), pages 1-26, July.
    17. Florence Jacquet & A Aboul-Naga & Bernard Hubert, 2020. "The contribution of ARIMNet to address livestock systems resilience in the Mediterranean region," Post-Print hal-03625860, HAL.
    18. Alejandro del Pozo & Nidia Brunel-Saldias & Alejandra Engler & Samuel Ortega-Farias & Cesar Acevedo-Opazo & Gustavo A. Lobos & Roberto Jara-Rojas & Marco A. Molina-Montenegro, 2019. "Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation Strategies of Agriculture in Mediterranean-Climate Regions (MCRs)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-16, May.
    19. Shannon McNeeley, 2012. "Examining barriers and opportunities for sustainable adaptation to climate change in Interior Alaska," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 111(3), pages 835-857, April.
    20. Barkat Rabbi & Zhong-Hua Chen & Subbu Sethuvenkatraman, 2019. "Protected Cropping in Warm Climates: A Review of Humidity Control and Cooling Methods," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(14), pages 1-24, July.

    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:gam:jsusta:v:6:y:2014:i:4:p:2338-2356:d:35379. 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: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.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.