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Contrasting perspectives on barriers to adaptation in Australian climate change policy

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Abstract

Barriers to adaptation have emerged as key concerns in climate change theory and practice, however there remains little consensus about which barriers are the most significant to different groups and how competing concerns may be addressed. We investigate the significance of different barriers to adaptation for governments, the private sector, and civil society in Australia through a systematic analysis of submissions to the Australian Productivity Commission’s inquiry into barriers to adaptation. Our results show that respondents prioritise barriers differently according to their respective sectors, and that there are competing concerns about which barriers should be addressed first. Nevertheless, some barriers are more persistent in the submissions than others, with governance and policy seen by most groups as being the major impediments to adaptation. We explain the implications of our analysis for adaptation politics and policy.

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Notes

  1. For a full list of respondents see Productivity Commission Final Report (Productivity Commission 2012) and for full text of the submissions see http://www.pc.gov.au/projects/inquiry/climate-change-adaptation/submissions#initial

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Acknowledgments

This work was carried out with financial support from the Australian Government (Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency) and the National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility. The views expressed herein are not necessarily the views of the Commonwealth or NCCARF, and neither the Commonwealth nor NCCARF accept responsibility for information or advice contained herein.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Resource Management and Geography, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

    Elissa Waters, Jon Barnett & Aedan Puleston

  2. 221 Bouverie St, Carlton, Victoria, 3053, Australia

    Elissa Waters

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  1. Elissa Waters
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  2. Jon Barnett
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  3. Aedan Puleston
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Correspondence to Elissa Waters.

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Waters, E., Barnett, J. & Puleston, A. Contrasting perspectives on barriers to adaptation in Australian climate change policy. Climatic Change 124, 691–702 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-014-1138-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-014-1138-8

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