Barriers and Drivers of Planning for Climate Change Adaptation across Three Levels of Government in Canada

ABSTRACT

This study investigates the factors that constrain and enable adaptation planning for increasing flood risk in Canada. It uses a multiple-methods, multi-scalar approach to identify interconnected barriers and drivers that operate across municipal, provincial, and federal levels of government in Vancouver and Surrey, British Columbia. Through a policy content analysis (n = 54) and in-depth interviews with planners and other practitioners (n = 31), the study finds five major barriers to the mainstreaming of climate change adaptation: inadequate collaboration, absence of senior level political leadership, lack of public awareness, insufficient financial and staff capacity, and misalignment of policies within and between levels of government.

KEYWORDS:

• Climate change adaptation
• flood hazards
• policy and planning
• barriers
• drivers

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank the study participants for generously sharing their time and expertise. Editor Jill Grant and the anonymous reviewers provided insightful, constructive comments that helped improve the manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by the Coastal Cities at Risk project, funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, the Canadian Institutes for Health Research, and the International Development Research Centre under Canada’s International Research Initiative on Adaptation to Climate Change (IRIACC).

Notes on contributors

Greg Oulahen

Greg Oulahen is assistant professor in the Department of Geography and Environmental Studies at Ryerson University where he studies hazards, risk, vulnerability, and climate change adaptation.

Yaheli Klein

Yaheli Klein was the senior researcher for ACT (the Adaptation to Climate Change Team) at Simon Fraser University and is currently a policy analyst for the provincial government of British Columbia.

Linda Mortsch

Linda Mortsch has an adjunct appointment in the University of Waterloo’s Faculty of Environment. She undertakes research to understand climate change impacts, vulnerability and resilience in water resources, coastal zones and urban areas and collaborates with stakeholders to facilitate adaptation planning and implementation.

Erin O’Connell

Erin O’Connell is a lecturer in the Department of Geography and Environmental Management, Faculty of Environment at the University of Waterloo. Her research focuses on disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation.

Deborah Harford

Deborah Harford is the co-founder and executive director of ACT (the Adaptation to Climate Change Team) at SFU. Deborah is a contributor to a wide variety of climate change adaptation research initiatives, committees, networks and organizations, including Environment and Climate Change Canada’s Expert Panel on Adaptation and Resilience Results.