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Institutional Responses to Climate Change Adaptation: Flood Management at the Metropolitan Level in Accra, Ghana

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The Geography of Climate Change Adaptation in Urban Africa

Abstract

Climate change and associated manifestations are creating significant stress in many parts of the world. Increased climate variability especially altered temperature and rainfall patterns, is predicted to be one of the major factors to aggravate the everyday shocks and stressors facing Africa’s growing poor urban populations. Consequently, responding through climate change adaptation must become a central tenet of effective metropolitan governance. This chapter examines the role institutions play in climate change adaptation in Ghana. Empirical findings from an examination of responses to recent floods in Accra (Ghana) are presented. Institutional factors that affect adaptation capacity at the local level, and factors that serve as barriers or facilitate this capacity, were examined. It is suggested that institutions provide pathways for understanding local responses to climate change and strategies for transformative adaptation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Cities Research Institute and School of Environment & Science, Griffith University, Nathan, Queensland, Australia

    Prosper Issahaku Korah

  2. Department of Planning, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana

    Patrick Brandful Cobbinah

  3. Institute for Land, Water and Society, Charles Sturt University, Albury, NSW, Australia

    Patrick Brandful Cobbinah

Authors
  1. Prosper Issahaku Korah
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  2. Patrick Brandful Cobbinah
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Correspondence to Prosper Issahaku Korah .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Planning, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana

    Patrick Brandful Cobbinah

  2. Institute for Land, Water and Society, Charles Sturt University, Albury, NSW, Australia

    Patrick Brandful Cobbinah

  3. Research Institute of Environmental Law, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China

    Michael Addaney

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Korah, P.I., Cobbinah, P.B. (2019). Institutional Responses to Climate Change Adaptation: Flood Management at the Metropolitan Level in Accra, Ghana. In: Cobbinah, P.B., Addaney, M. (eds) The Geography of Climate Change Adaptation in Urban Africa. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-04873-0_16

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-04873-0_16

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

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  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-04873-0

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