Climate Change Adaptation Strategies at a Local Scale: The Portuguese Case Study

Margarida Ramalho (), José Carlos Ferreira and Catarina Jóia Santos
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Margarida Ramalho: Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, NOVA School of Science and Technology, NOVA University Lisbon, Campus da Caparica, 2829-516 Caparica, Portugal
José Carlos Ferreira: Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, NOVA School of Science and Technology, NOVA University Lisbon, Campus da Caparica, 2829-516 Caparica, Portugal
Catarina Jóia Santos: Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, NOVA School of Science and Technology, NOVA University Lisbon, Campus da Caparica, 2829-516 Caparica, Portugal

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 24, 1-21

Abstract: Coastal areas are home to more than 2 billion people around the globe and, as such, are especially vulnerable to climate change consequences. Climate change adaptation has proven to be more effective on a local scale, contributing to a bottom-up approach to the problems related to the changing climate. Portugal has approximately 2000 km of coastline, with 75% of the population living along the coast. Therefore, this research had the main objective of understanding adaptation processes at a local scale, using Portuguese coastal municipalities as a case study. To achieve this goal, document analysis and a questionnaire to coastal municipalities were applied, and the existence of measures rooted in nature-based solutions, green infrastructures, and community-based adaptation was adopted as a variable. The main conclusion from this research is that 87% of the municipalities that answered the questionnaire have climate change adaptation strategies implemented or in development. Moreover, it was possible to conclude that 90% of the municipalities are familiar with the concept of nature-based solutions and all the municipalities with adaptation strategies include green infrastructure. However, it was also possible to infer that community-based adaptation is a concept that most municipalities do not know about or undervalue.

Keywords: coastal areas; community-based adaptation; nature-based solutions; green infrastructure (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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