Download Integrating Climate Change Adaptation into Coastal Zone Management

Integrating Climate Change Adaptation into Coastal Zone Management
By Rahanna Juman and Kahlil Hassanali,
Institute of Marine Affairs, Hilltop Lane, Chaguaramas, Trinidad and Tobago
[email protected]
Abstract:
Global climate change and climate variability adds to the continuous pressure
on coastal environments especially in Small Island States (SIS), many of which
are faced with a limited resource base, logistical challenges and rising
pressures from economic development. In Trinidad and Tobago, it is estimated
that almost 80% of all socio-economic activities and 70% of the population are
located along the coast. Sea level rise and heightened erosion in some areas
exacerbate the problems associated with many interests competing for limited
coastal space. In 2012, the Cabinet of Trinidad and Tobago appointed a
Steering Committee to Develop an Integrated Coastal Zone Management Policy
Framework, Strategies and Action Plan. Integrated Coastal Zone Management
(ICZM) has been identified as the best approach globally to achieve balance
between development and conservation by managing human activities within
the coastal zone, and addressing conflicts amongst different resource users and
uses. It is a strategy to adapt to climate change impacts and to reduce
vulnerability to coastal hazards. To assist with the development of the National
ICZM Policy that integrates climate change adaptation, the Inter-American
Development Bank (IDB) funded a pilot project in Southwest Tobago. The paper
highlights the findings and recommendations of the pilot project and examines
how this approach can assist the development of the National ICZM Policy
Framework, Strategies and Action Plan.
Key words:
Coastal zone management, climate change, vulnerability, adaptation
INTRODUCTION
Sea level rise (SLR), tropical and extratropical cyclones, increasing air and sea
surface temperatures, and changing rainfall patterns are the current and future
climate-related drivers of risk for small islands during the 21st century. The
future risks associated with these drivers include loss of adaptive capacity and
ecosystem services critical to lives and livelihoods in small islands (Nurse et al.
2014). Intensive coastal development in the limited coastal zone combined
with population growth and tourism, has placed great stress on the coast of
some islands and has resulted in dense aggregations of infrastructure and
people in potentially vulnerable locations. Adaptation to climate change
generates larger benefit to small islands when delivered in conjunction with
other development activities, such as disaster risk reduction and communitybased approaches to development. Addressing the critical social, economic,
and environmental issues of the day, raising awareness, and communicating
future risks to local communities are likely to increase human and
environmental resilience to the longer term impacts of climate change (Nurse et
al. 2015).
Trinidad and Tobago is the southern-most country in the Caribbean
archipelagic chain. Trinidad has a surface area of 4,828 km2 while Tobago is
substantially smaller with an area of 300 km2. Collectively the country has a
coastline length of 704 km. The country’s jurisdictional sovereignty and
responsibility extends beyond the terrestrial into the marine through its
archipelagic waters, territorial sea and exclusive economic zone (EEZ). The
collective areal extent of these encompasses 77,502 km2 of waters surrounding
the islands. Trinidad and Tobago therefore has a land to sea ratio of 1:15,
which indicates the importance of the marine and coastal sphere to the country.
The country’s economy has always been supported by coastal and marine
resources, primarily oil and gas, tourism and fisheries. For the past 10 years,
the industrial sector has accounted for more than 50% of the country’s Gross
Domestic Product (GDP) while the service sector (including tourism and
shipping) has accounted for about 40% GDP, but more than 60% of the labour
force (Central Statistical Office). Tourism is especially important in Tobago as
approximately 50% of employment is tourism related. The fishing sector,
although contributing much less to GDP, cannot be underestimated, as it
provides a source of livelihood, subsistence and nutrition, especially to some of
the more vulnerable in society.
New economic policies, aimed at diversifying the economy, have seen
investments in the tourism, agriculture, aquaculture and maritime sectors, all of
which depend on a healthy coastal environment. Policies to reduce greenhouse
gases could lead to the development of alternative renewable energy sources
some of which could be generated along the coast from tides, waves or wind.
Much of the nation’s coastal resources have already been destroyed, damaged
or over-exploited to accommodate a growing population and their economic
needs. Climate change, sea level rise and heightened erosion in some areas
also exacerbate the problems associated with many interests competing for
limited coastal space.
It is inevitable that conflicts would arise where several human activities occur in
the same area and depend on the same natural resources. Globally, there has
been increasing conflict among various stakeholders, such as industries,
hoteliers, fisherfolk and coastal communities for different uses within the
coastal zone, such as reclamation, ports, resorts and fishing. In Trinidad and
Tobago, for example, there is conflict between the oil and gas sector and
fisherfolk while coastal communities have continued to express concerns about
the loss of beach property and access, due to coastal development to facilitate
industrial, tourism and housing expansion.
The multiplicity of laws and policies impacting on coastal areas creates
problems such as overlapping jurisdiction and a lack of proper co-ordination
amongst enforcement and management agencies. Public education programs
are limited and sporadic and have generally failed to transform attitudes
towards sustainably using coastal areas in Trinidad and Tobago. These
problems have led to unsustainable utilization of the coastal resources.
Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) is a means to sustainably manage
Trinidad and Tobago’s coastal and ocean space, resources and activities. As a
participatory process, it requires discourse, co-ordination and harmonization
among Government agencies and other stakeholders, including communities. It
also endeavours to improve governance so that, inter alia, conflict is alleviated,
a balance between conservation and development considerations is fostered,
sustainable livelihoods are promoted and the vulnerability of coastal
populations is reduced.
In April 2012, the Cabinet of Trinidad and Tobago appointed a multi-sectoral
Steering Committee to develop an Integrated Coastal Zone Management Policy
Framework, Strategies and Action Plan for Trinidad and Tobago. To assist with
the development of a Policy that incorporates climate change considerations,
the IDB funded a Technical Cooperation (TC) entitled ‘Piloting the integration of
climate change adaptation and coastal zone management in Southwest
Tobago’. Southwest Tobago was selected for the pilot study as it is low-lying
and vulnerable to impacts of climate change, is the most populated and
developed part of Tobago, is home to some of the most diverse and sensitive
ecosystems in the country and there was some data available for analysis. The
TC included:
1. A review of the legislative, policy, institutional and capacity arrangements related to
coastal zone management and climate change at the national level and relevant to
Tobago.
2. A vulnerability and risk assessment for the area based on different climate change
scenarios
3. Creation of a climate change adaptation response plan along with a methodology for the
mainstreaming of Climate Change considerations into Coastal Zone Management.
4. Development of guidelines for the incorporation of an ecosystem based approach (EbA)
into ICZM.
This paper describes the lessons learnt from the technical cooperation and
provides insights into how they could inform the national ICZM Policy
framework, strategies and action plan.
REVIEW OF THE LEGAL AND INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK
Definition of Coastal Zone
The coastal zone is not defined in any policies or laws for Trinidad and Tobago.
There are several pieces of legislation addressing specific aspects of what might
be traditionally considered part of a coastal zone. For instance Section 2 of the
Marine Areas (Preservation and Enhancement) Act Ch. 37:02 does not define a
coastal zone but speaks of marine areas, while Section 3 of the Territorial Sea
Act Ch. 1:51 defines the territorial sea. The meaning of coastal area came up
before the Environmental Commission of Trinidad and Tobago in the case of
Environmental Management Authority v. Michael Trestrail, Environmental
Commission, EAA 002 of 2011. As per Justice Sandra Paul, “Neither the
Environmental Management Act (2000) nor the Certificate of Environmental
Clearance Order defines a coastal area. The Court therefore examined other
local legislation to ascertain what constitutes a coastal area; the Laws of
Trinidad and Tobago however, did not assist in this regard. Consequently, the
laws in other jurisdictions were examined. The Coastal Zone Management Act
of Barbados, Chapter 394 was of assistance.”
To overcome this shortcoming the draft ICZM Policy Framework (2014) seeks to
explicitly define the coastal zone of Trinidad and Tobago as “all areas of sea
extending to the limit of the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and including the
shoreline and coastal lands, which are inland areas above the high water mark
that influence the quality or composition of coastal waters, or are influenced in
some way by their proximity to coastal waters”. It was determined from a study
on Understanding the Economics of Climate Change that the 5m contour
represents the limit of immediate and direct impact from sea level rise and
storm surge (IDB, 2014) and so the coast was zoned and delineated in the
Policy as follows:
Terrestrial: Zone T1- Immediate and direct impact area.
This zone (T1) shall be the delineated on the seaward side as the line of lowwater at mean low-water spring tides and on the landward side as the five
meter contour.
Zone T2- Area of influence
This zone (T2) shall be the area contained between the 5 m contour and the 90
m contour. This area and Zone T1 contains most of the urban, industrial and
agricultural areas of the country and influences the marine and coastal areas
through direct and indirect impacts.
Sea: Zone S1 – Immediate and direct impact area (3 nautical miles)
This zone (S1) shall be delineated on the landward side from the low-water at
mean low-water spring tides and shall extend to a distance of three nautical
miles offshore parallel with the mean high water mark, consistent with the
outer limit defined for the coastal nearshore in the Water Pollution Rules, 2001.
Zone S2- Territorial Sea
This zone (S2) shall extend outward from the three nautical mile seaward
boundary of zone S1 to the outer limits of the territorial sea, not exceeding 12
nautical miles from the archipelagic baselines described in section 6 of the
Archipelagic Waters and Exclusive Economic Zone Act, 1986.
Zone S3- Exclusive Economic Zone
This zone (S3) is the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of Trinidad and Tobago and
is the area of sea between the outer limits of the territorial sea and a distance
of 200 nautical miles seaward from the baseline from which the territorial sea is
measured unless otherwise determined by agreement between Trinidad and
Tobago and adjacent States concerned, on the basis of international law.
Laws, Policies and Institutional Arrangement
In Trinidad and Tobago there are no specific laws that address the issue of
climate change and ICZM. However, there are some 20 pieces of legislation that
can potentially address coastal zone management. While it may be perceived
that sufficient laws exist in the country to enable effective management of
coastal resources and activities, most of the laws are worded in a general
manner, with the intent being the passage of regulations to provide for
specificity. Unfortunately, there has been a reluctance to use such regulatory
powers and this has resulted in some laws being largely unenforceable
(Ramlogan, 2013). Similarly, there are 24 policies that touch on aspects of
ICZM. However, the main issues with respect to policies are that they are
outdated, lack specificity, or have been inadequately implemented. While
Trinidad and Tobago has a National Climate Change Policy (NCCP), it does not
specifically speak to ICZM, though it does note the effects of rising sea level
and temperature. In addition, the various policies address coastal zone
management in a piecemeal and fragmented manner which is not conducive to
promoting ICZM as a comprehensive subject.
The many laws and policies impacting on coastal areas give rise to as many as
twenty nine (29) institutions having a defined legal and/or policy role in aspects
of coastal management. The sheer number of agencies with responsibility for
coastal area management creates problems such as overlapping jurisdiction
and a lack of proper co-ordination with regards to enforcement. The work of
these agencies is hindered by a lack of capacity and resources. A further
setback faced by enforcement agencies is the absence of sanction levels that
offer a strong deterrent to breaching laws that deal with coastal areas. It is
often more cost-effective to break the law and pay a fine than to take steps to
desist from breaching laws applicable to coastal zone management. The low
financial penalties for breaches of the law have contributed to the lack of
enthusiasm on the part of agencies for bringing court actions in order to
enforce the law (Ramlogan, 2013).
Barbados and the United States have framework legislation for ICZM. The
drawback of using this approach for Trinidad and Tobago would be the
requirement to amend many pieces of legislation to avoid duplication of
purpose and statutory confusion. Asecond approach would be to amend
existing and proposed legislation to ensure proper incorporation of the
different elements of an ICZM plan for Trinidad and Tobago. However, with
many laws and policies, there would be many institutions that contribute or are
capable of contributing to an ICZM plan for Trinidad and Tobago. This
fragmented approach is not ideal and could be resolved if a single,
comprehensive law is enacted giving effect to a co-ordinating body with
statutory authority and jurisdiction to deal with ICZM related matters. Thus,
this would be the preferred approach.
The ICZM policy aims to address all relevant issues on the coast; set out the
legal roadmap to be followed in formulating new legislation and amending the
different pieces of legislation required for the implementation of an ICZM plan.
The policy must address strategies for climate change adaptation and disaster
risk reduction for the coastal areas of Trinidad and Tobago.
Coastal
vulnerability and risk assessments would be required and appropriate
preventative and adaptive measures would have to be incorporated into all
planning and management policies and decision-making processes to account
for projected changes in climate, particularly increases in sea level.
COASTAL VULNERABILITY AND RISK ASSESSMENT FOR SOUTHWEST TOBAGO
A vulnerability and risk assessment was conducted for Southwest Tobago based
on climate change scenarios that were representative of the range of
projections in current climate science (Halcrow, 2015). For the pilot study, two
climate scenarios were adopted: Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs)
8.5 and 4.5, in addition to present day conditions. The Representative
Concentration Pathways (RCPs) are greenhouse gas concentration (not
emissions) trajectories adopted by the IPCC for its Fifth Assessment Report
(AR5). RCP8.5 ‘high’ is the highest of the RCPs and with high climate sensitivity
represents the greatest level of climate risk; and RCP4.5 ‘mid’ sensitivity is
selected to represent a middle level of the RCPs which has the largest number
of Global Climate Model simulations (IPCC, 2014).
The study focused on vulnerabilities related to coastal flooding and erosion.
Consequently the climate change variables of interest, in relation to potentially
changing coastal processes that drive these hazards, are: mean sea level rise
(SLR); and extreme water level events (incorporating changes in sea level and
wind parameters).The assessment was then used to develop a methodology to
formulate a Coastal Vulnerability Index (CVI) which identified areas that are at
risk to erosion and/or permanent or temporary inundation and their potential
impacts to human and economic activities. One major hindrance to the
scenario modelling is the lack of accurate, long term data. The study produced
a number of GIS maps showing tidal inundation, flood extent and erosion
extent under the different RCPs, and risk maps for human and economic
activities.
With regards to the National ICZM, the CVI approach clearly identifies and
prioritises locations that require future climate change adaptation planning
within the ICZM process. A key lesson from the pilot study was that consistent,
complete datasets are not available for many of the key features required to be
defined for the full CVI analyses. These include tidal, wave data, topography,
bathymetry, beach profile, aerial photography, and land use data. Another key
lesson is the relative lack of transparency of data existence/availability. Ahead
of any future CVI analysis it is recommended that relevant government agencies
co-ordinate to identify existing available datasets, and define meta-data related
to source, resolution, date and format. Other baseline analyses are required to
refine the CVI and these include storm surge and coastal erosion analysis.
Further analysis, should incorporate natural assets that are potentially
vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. This pilot study was fairly limited
as only potential impacts to economic and human activity were considered in
developing the CVI.
ECOSYSTEM BASED APPROACH (EbA) TO CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION (CCA)
AND ICZM
EbA aims to avoid poorly planned engineering solutions for CCA that could
work against nature by constraining regular ecological cycles, which may lead
to mal-adaptation and increased social vulnerability (Sustainable Seas, 2014a).
ICZM represents a public planning process for achieving the goals of EbA with
increased efficiency through rational, objective spatial planning for future
sustainable uses. ICZM and EbA both provide a robust framework to determine
strategies and measures for climate resilience.
In the pilot study area, the aim was to apply an EbA to CCA and ICZM. To do
this a climate change response plan was developed that recommended seven
adaptation responses (Table 1).
Table 1: Climate change adaptation response (Sustainable Seas, 2014b)
Adaptation Response
A: Maintain / restore wetlands
B: Maintain Sediment Transport
Description
Protection for existing wetlands and mangroves in SW
Tobago from development, pollution, and habitat
changes that may be exacerbated by sea level rise.
Developing/ enforcing legislation or modifying land use
rules (e.g., zoning) to facilitate wetland migration inland.
Prohibitions on shoreline hardening.
Adaptation options that maintain sediment transport in
order to reverse changes that have already occurred or
changes that will continue to occur. Combined with other
actions, these adaptation options may work to prevent
loss of coastal habitats and enable habitats (reliant on
sediment supply such as mangroves) to accrete at a rate
consistent with sea level rise.
C:
Preserve
development
infrastructure)
coastal
land/ Adaptation options that focus on land use planning and
(including management, land exchange and acquisition programs,
and retrofitting infrastructure. These adaptation options
primarily aim to preserve coastal land on which
development is planned or already exists.
D: Maintain shorelines utilizing “soft” Approaches for maintaining shorelines in the face of sea
measures
level rise include both “soft” measures and “hard”
measures. Each of these approaches or some
combination of them may be appropriate depending on
the characteristics of a particular location (e.g., shore
protection costs, property values, the environmental
importance of habitat, the feasibility of protecting shores
without harming the habitat.
E: Maintain shorelines utilizing “hard” Shoreline protection through hardening techniques such
measures
as constructing bulkheads, seawalls, revetments, and
breakwaters, or reinforcing dikes and headlands.
Adaptation options that use hardening techniques are
often preserving existing development (e.g., homes and
businesses) and infrastructure (e.g., sewage systems,
roads), or protecting land available for future
development or infrastructure.
F: Preserve Habitat for Vulnerable Adaptation options that involves actively increasing
Species
coastal ecosystem boundaries or removing barriers that
prevent habitat expansion or migration. Actions to
increase ecosystem boundaries could include purchasing
upland development or property rights and expanding
the planning horizons of land use planning to incorporate
longer-term climate predictions.
G: Maintain water quality
Sea level rise and changes in the timing and intensity of
precipitation can affect the water quality of coastal
receiving waters. Protecting existing infrastructure and
planning for impacts to new infrastructure can help
reduce vulnerability to these impacts (e.g., sizing
drainage and sewer treatment systems to accommodate
changes in flow). Other options for maintaining water
quality of mangroves and wetlands include preventing or
limiting groundwater extraction from shallow aquifers
and protecting land subject to flooding by plugging
canals.
Based on the erosion rates identified by IMA (Figure 1), the potential erosion
rates (Figure 2) and flood inundation risk (Figure 3) under the various climate
change scenarios modelled by Halcrow (2015), the coast was divided into six
coastal behaviour units (Figure 4). Using the options elicited in the climate
change response plan, the best adaptation response / course of action for
coastal behaviour units in Southwest Tobago were considered for two time
scale epochs that are realistic and meaningful in terms of planning time scales
in Tobago: 0 -5 years (short term to urgent action required); 5-25 years (longer
term planning for islands such as Tobago). The appropriate adaptation
response was determined by answering five EbA questions (Sheppard, 2004)
which reveal how vulnerability and risk to impacts due to climate change affects
ecosystems and social and economic features of the coastline. The EbA
questions were:
1. Who are the main stakeholders and ecosystems, and what are the
relationships between them?
2. What is the structure and function of the ecosystems, and are means in
place to manage and monitor them?
3. What are the importance economic issues that will affect the ecosystem
and its inhabitants?
4. What are the likely impacts of the ecosystem on adjacent ecosystems?
5. What are the long term goals and have flexible way of reaching them
been determined?
An assessment is presented for Coastal Behaviour Unit B: Rockly Point to Pigeon
Point (Table 2 and 3).
Figure 1: Beach profile volatility in Southwest Tobago (IMA, 2014)
Figure 2:Erosion potential in the SW Tobago based on different climate change
scenario (Halcrow, 2015)
Figure 3: Flood inundation risk to the pilot area under various climate change
scenarios (Halcrow, 2015)
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Figure 4: Indicative limits of Coastal Behaviour Units in Southwest Tobago
Coastal Behaviour Unit A–Great Courland Bay to Rocky Point;
Coastal Behaviour Unit B–Rocky Point to Pigeon Point;
Coastal Behaviour Unit C–Pigeon Point to Crown Point;
Coastal Behaviour Unit D–Crown Point toCanoe Bay;
Coastal Behaviour Unit E–Canoe Bay to Lowlands (PetitTrouLagoon);
Coastal Behaviour Unit F–Lowlands to Rockly Bay.
Table 2: EbA Analysis – Rocky Point to Pigeon Point
Table 3: Adaptation Response Option- Rocky Point to Pigeon Point
Coastal Behaviour Unit B – Rocky Point to Pigeon Point
Adaptation Response Title
Adaptation Response A: Maintain/restore
wetlands and mangrove ecosystems;
Adaptation Response B: Maintain sediment
transport;
Adaptation Response C: Preserve
coastal land/development (including
infrastructure);
Adaptation Response D: Maintain shorelines
utilizing “soft” measures;
Adaptation Response E: Maintain shorelines
utilizing “hard” measures;
Adaptation Response F: Preserve Habitat for
Vulnerable Species;
Adaptation Response G: Maintain water quality
Current status
Years 0–5
(2019)
wetland health
and integrity within
Buccoo Bay is critical
sediment
supply within Mt
Irvine Bay is critical
Years 5-20
(2034)
longer term
wetland health and
integrity within
Buccoo Bay is critical
longer term
need to maintain
sediment
supply
within Mt Irvine
Bay is critical
part of a
future ICZM Plan that
identifies clear
setbacks, policies
etc
Longer
term land
acquisition
programs.
short term “pilot”
projects required to
learn successes
implementation of
short term “pilot”
projects into the
longer term within
the CBU
short term
asset protection at Mt
Irvine Bay only
Reef and
mangrove conservation
programmes for marine
species protection
Important for
tourism sector and
for the integrity of
the wider marine
ecosystem
Existing Coastal
Defences
Failed rock and
concrete seaward
sloping concrete
wall at Grange Bay
X
long term
asset relocation at
Mt Irvine Bay
longer term
reef and mangrove
conservation
programmes for
marine species
protection
Important for
tourism sector and for
the integrity of the
wider marine
ecosystem
Vulnerability
(people)
St Patrick Parish =
14,733 (2011Census).
No detailed break
down exists for
communities/villages
within this CBU.
Preferred Adaptation Responses (see
Table 1 for possible “Courses of
Action”).
A, B, C, D, F, G.
E (short term–Mt Irvine only);
A simple approach towards linking EbA principles with objectives in the draft
ICZM Policy Framework is needed. This can be achieved by recommending a
screening process that asks 5 simple EbA related questions. The outcome of
this process is that EbA principles have been used to demonstrate which
climate change adaptation responses are the most appropriate to employ and
implement. It is intended that the EbA principles are not only used to shape
climate change adaptation options but also the delivery of ICZM policy. The task
here is how EbA can provide a framework to help structure application of a
climate “lens” to cross-sectoral planning to enable adaptation that targets the
most vulnerable social, economic and environmental areas of coast.
CONCLUSION
Mainstreaming climate change into ICZM should help improve the way the
government “does business” and achieves sustainable development of its
coastal resources. This will be via stimulating actions that strengthen vertical
policy, planning, and budgeting processes between national (Trinidad and
Tobago) and sub-national institutions (e.g. Tobago House of Assembly), and
horizontal cross-sectoral initiatives that aim to contribute to ICZM
sustainability. A key challenge would be minimising and adapting to the threats
of climate change and sea level rise particularly as a result of increased coastal
erosion. High levels of threat exist to coastal infrastructure, housing and other
built development but this can be minimized by promoting sustainable land use
and development through better planning and development control, including
controlling land-based sources of coastal and marine pollution.
A major issue is ensuring that changes to national plans, and impacts from new
sectoral priorities start to reach people on the ground. This will require
continued coordination across the range of different activities going on at the
national, sub-national, and local levels. Mainstreaming experience has
demonstrated that, for example, many national development goals are
interlinked, and that achieving the goal of ICZM will be not possible if other
related goals, including poverty reduction, are not met.
Newly emerging ideas of measuring coastal community and livelihood
environmental dimensions of development and going beyond measurements of
GDP are gaining traction internationally. Experience from many nations has
shown that quality of life can be expressed beyond the measure of GDP per
capita and that the integration of social and environmental factors are equally
important in ensuring wider development goals are reached. Going beyond
government-led mainstreaming, issues such as “green jobs”, social enterprises,
and wealth accounting are among other initiatives which are increasingly being
seen as ways to address the integration of true social and environmental costs
for a better quality of sustainable development.
An important part of climate change mainstreaming is climate risk analysis,
which aims to define the extent of the current and future climate risk within the
sector or area under consideration. Climate risk analysis should become an
integral part of strategy or policy development in all sectors and areas. When
the climate risk is appropriately addressed at the national level within strategic
plans and policies, this creates an enabling environment for government
agencies to engage with climate risk reduction and risk management, and for
the private sector and communities to take their own steps to reduce their risks
and manage residual risks. Climate-responsive policies and strategies thus
pave the way for practical on-the-ground activities that manage the climate risk
(Sustainable Sea, 2014b).
Overall, a key challenge for ICZM delivery is being able to establish a clear link
between interventions in areas such as coastal resource management and
integrated water resource management and their impact on coastal livelihood
security and risk reduction. One approach is to apply a climate ‘lens’ when
formulating sectoral policy and plans to avoid maladaptation and to identify
potential opportunities resulting from climate change. During the planning
stage, interventions could include specific adaptation activities and when
allocating resources, programme screening can be used to assess whether
project proposals should include climate change risks (Sustainable Seas 2014b).
A goal of an ICZM policy is to promote and facilitate cross-sectoral actions to
mainstream the integration of climate change adaptation issues into on-going
policy processes. The principles of EbA can then provide guidance to structure
the integration of different sector responses that ensure collective responses
meet both the principles and goals of ICZM and how climate change adaptation
techniques can be mainstreamed into decision making.
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