Informing UK governance of resilience to climate risks: improving the local evidence-base

Candice Howarth (), Sian Morse-Jones, Andrew Kythreotis, Katya Brooks and Matt Lane
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Candice Howarth: Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, London School of Economics and Political Sciences
Sian Morse-Jones: Collingwood Environmental Planning
Andrew Kythreotis: School of Geography and Lincoln Centre for Water and Planetary Health, University of Lincoln
Katya Brooks: University of Surrey
Matt Lane: University of Edinburgh

Climatic Change, 2020, vol. 163, issue 1, No 28, 499-520

Abstract: Abstract International assessments of evidence on climate change (e.g. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, IPCC) or national climate change risk assessments (e.g. UK Climate Change Risk Assessment, CCRA) do not offer a sufficiently granular perspective on climate impacts to adequately inform governance of resilience to climate risks at the local level. Using an analysis of UK decision-makers managing and responding to heatwaves and flood risks, this paper argues how more robust local evidence is needed to inform decision-making regarding adaptation options for enhancing local resilience. We identify evidence gaps and issues relating to local climate change impacts, including sources and quality of evidence used, adequacy and accessibility of evidence available, ill-communicated evidence and conflicting or misused evidence. A lack of appreciation regarding how scientific evidence and personal judgement can mutually enhance the quality of decision-making underpins all of these gaps. Additionally, we find that the majority of evidence currently used is reductively based upon socio-economic and physical characteristics of climate risks. We argue that a step change is needed in local climate resilience that moves beyond current physical and socio-economic risk characterisation to a more inclusive co-constitution of social and politically defined climate risks at the local scale that are better aligned with the local impacts felt and needs of stakeholders.

Keywords: Climate risk; Resilience; Evidence; Communication; Local governance (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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DOI: 10.1007/s10584-020-02821-3

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