Planned Adaptation Measures in Industrialised Countries: A Comparison of Select Countries Within and Outside the EU

Abstract

This chapter provides a context for the discussion on the emergence of adaptation measures in the four case studies presented in this volume through a brief discussion of the ways in which planned adaptations are being developed in eight European countries. Adaptation actions at different levels in Austria, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, the Netherlands, Norway and Spain are described in order to provide an illustration of adaptation measures in a range of countries representing differing structural contexts, modes of decentralisation and histories of engagement in environmental policy. An additional section on planned adaptation as it has manifested in Canada and Australia is also presented to provide further ground for comparison with countries outside the European context. Results show a tenuous link between the extent to which countries have engaged in adaptation and their environmental policy implementation record, though some interesting links between environmental policy institutions and adaptation can be made. The extent to which unitary and federal nations have decentralised responsibility to sub-national tiers is shown to have an impact on the way in which regions and local authorities have engaged in adaptation. The role of both NGOs and the European Union is shown to be of significance to regional and local governments, as well as those countries who have not yet extensively engaged in adaptation at the national scale.