1

Systematic review approach to identifying key trends in

adaptation governance at the supranational level

Livia Bizikova, Daniella Echeverria and Anne Hammill

2

Systematic review

• It involves reviewing documents according to clearly formulated criteria, using systematic and explicit methods to select and critically appraise relevant information (Lesnikowski et al. 2011; Berrang-Ford et al. 2011; Ford et al, 2011).

• This approach, common in health sciences, has recently been applied to climate change studies to assess current knowledge about climate change impacts and adaptation measures, human health (Lesnikowski et al. 2011) the Arctic regions of Canada (Ford and Pearce 2010), and in general regarding the governance of adaptation (Biesbroek et al, in press).

3

Conducted searchers

• Analyses of climate change adaptation governance, food security and at the national and supranational levels.

• we used Google Scholar and ScienceDirectCategory Included Excluded Type Journal papers Books, book chapters,

editorials, grey literaturePublication year 2008 - 2014 Papers published earlier

were excludedFocus Aspects of agriculture and

food security Other sectorial focus

Geographic scale National Sub-national; local; farm, operations-level; community-level

RegionalGlobal

4

Small- scale agriculture 11

Water and fisheries 21

Adaptation and mitigation 14

Urban/cities 39

Rural, CBA 24Sub-national governance systems 39

Local governance 14

other 59

Water and fisheries 13

Ecosystems/ forestry 19

Regional governance 24

Other 38

Food-focus 52

5

Criteria to sort the papers• 10 major criteria and 74 sub-criteria were used • Geographic scale• Geographic location• Level of development • Aspect of agriculture & food security addressed• Other sectoral focus (secondary to agriculture & food):• Mitigation issues included or do not (+details)• Climate change impact discussed• Type of adaptation actions • Governance aspects • Identified governance challenges

6

Major focus of the reviewed documents (n = 52)

• 10 papers with global focus only• Regions: EU (6), Sub-Saharan Africa (6), Caribbean, South

East Asia, Mekong Delta• Countries: 45 countries included; Australia (6), UK (6), US (4),

Finland (4), Netherlands (3); Bangladesh (2), Mozambique (2), Spain (2); Mexico (2), Germany (2), Canada (2)

• Development status of the countries: 11 on developed countries only, 9 only on developing countries, 20 both developed and developing; LDCs included within these groups

7

Focus of the papers(n = 98)

• Focused on multiple aspects of food security and related agricultural issues/food system issues

• Natural resources, policy and food availability (shared focus)

8

Climate Change Mitigation

• Issues: mitigation in the agriculture and livestock sectors; biofuel production; policy coordination between A and M, trade offs for A and M in the context of agriculture

9

Climate Change Impacts

• Focus on governance systems, policies, institutions to respond/prepare for climate change impacts

• Specific impacts: droughts, floods, extreme events

10

Types of governance measures discussed (n = 180)

11

Types of governance measures listed • Connecting key sectors to identify synergies and trade-off is critical

for effective adaptation, mainstreaming and then by vertical coordination promoting implementation

• Creating a relevant mix of policies (frameworks, review of current policies and new policies)

• Improving institutions to promote vertical coordination • Communication about policy actions, encouraging behavioral change

such actions should be core part of policy making (more important then stakeholders consultation)

• Adjusting decision-making processes within and between donor and national institutions. They include impact assessments, indicator and reporting systems as well as improvements of the policy dialogue

12

Barriers for governance listed(n = 109)

13

Barriers for governance listed • Policy/ institutional coordination challenges to undertake

integrated approaches (climate change, food system, health economic, health, social, and environmental agendas) and complex trade-offs; integration of risks and related accountability and transparency

• Targeted impact information• Better coordination between global and regional levels to help

translate issues to the national level sharing a similar context (role of different levels)

• Integration important ‘bottom-up’ processes with ‘top-down’ high-level policy strategies and visions

• Vague definitions for policy focus (vulnerable groups)

14

Some conclusions

• Challenges for governance systems to address integration of different areas (beyond cross-sectorial coordination)

• Limited regional focus/role of regional assessments and then linking with global and national

• Limited focus on some aspects related to food security (pastoralism, markets, infrastructure)

• Information and communication of specific impacts