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Why climate adaptation needs governance

Why climate adaptation needs governance. Showing a need for innovative approaches to governance in the wake of climate change.
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HELLEN DAWO: Dear learners, this week, we have looked at reasons why climate adaptation needs governance. Here is a summary of the major points. One, climate adaptation governance takes place on an international, regional, and national level. Two, right now, in most countries, climate adaptation governance is predominantly still organised in sectors. Three, organisation of climate adaptation governance in sectors may lead to inefficiencies and slowness. Four, by crossing sectoral boundaries, governments are better able to coordinate efforts to adapt to climate change. Five, innovative solutions for climate adaptation governance require collaboration between varied disciplines.
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By examining these five points, we see that governance is moving away from a simple policy instrument choice to broad cooperation by societal actors to solve a shared climate change problem. This kind of cooperation is often easier at local levels of governance. At this level, polycentric approaches are easier to implement due to simple horizontal level communication and collaboration. So what is polycentric governance? Well, it simply means that multiple governing bodies, in our case, the varied governmental departments, work together to get the best solution to a common problem. The five benefits of this form of governance in climate adaptation are as follows. It provides opportunities for learning. It enables more levels of participation. It helps get diverse responses to a problem.
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It enables participants to share knowledge and expertise. And lastly, it helps in co-creating solutions that are holistic. So we have come to the end of this week. During the week, we looked at business as usual, organisation of the government, which was in sectors, and suggested an efficient way of organising the government, and that is by co-operation between the sectors. But just for a moment, I would like you to look into the future. When I mention the term innovation, what comes to your mind? Perhaps you think of a startup business bringing a new product to the market. Maybe you think of electric cars, renewable energy, or carbon neutral buildings. All these are correct, by the way.
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But what do you think of innovative government? Can we have an innovative government? Can the government overcome bureaucracy and politics to provide leadership, participation, and innovation for tackling climate change challenges? Think of ways your government could innovate and share this with your fellow learners.

Why does climate adaptation need governance? In this video Hellen Dawo shows the need for innovative approaches to governance in the wake of climate change, thereby what we have learnt in this week.

There are 5 reasons why climate adaptation needs governance:

  • Governance takes place on an international, regional, and national level.
  • Unfortunately climate adaptation governance is predominantly still organised in sectors.
  • This organisation of governance in sectors may lead to inefficiencies and slowness.
  • By crossing sectoral boundaries, governments are better able to coordinate efforts to adapt to climate change.
  • Innovative solutions for climate adaptation governance require collaboration between varied disciplines.

By examining these five points, we see that governance is moving away from a simple policy instrument choice to broad cooperation by societal actors to solve a shared climate change problem.

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Making Climate Adaptation Happen: Governing Transformation Strategies for Climate Change

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FutureLearn - Learning For Life

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