Institutions for long-term problems: the influence of the Dutch Delta Programme on forward-looking climate adaptation responses at the local level

Climate change requires forward-looking policy responses. Developing such responses can be challenging for governments and, therefore, specific long-term institutions have been proposed for overcoming short-termism. However, the impacts of such institutions have been underexplored. In this paper, we analyze the influence of a long-term institution, the Dutch Delta Programme, on local governments’ decisions. The paper results are based on an analysis of climate adaptation strategies, investment plans and adaptation projects and interviews with policymakers, across seven Dutch municipalities. Re... Mehr ...

Verfasser: Wieke D. Pot (14278340)
Kasper de Vaan (14278343)
Art Dewulf (6381899)
Dokumenttyp: Text
Erscheinungsdatum: 2022
Schlagwörter: Ecology / Sociology / Inorganic Chemistry / Science Policy / Biological Sciences not elsewhere classified / forward-looking decisions / long-term institutions / climate adaptation / water infrastructure / urban planning
Sprache: unknown
Permalink: https://search.fid-benelux.de/Record/base-29032922
Datenquelle: BASE; Originalkatalog
Powered By: BASE
Link(s) : https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.21750542.v1

Climate change requires forward-looking policy responses. Developing such responses can be challenging for governments and, therefore, specific long-term institutions have been proposed for overcoming short-termism. However, the impacts of such institutions have been underexplored. In this paper, we analyze the influence of a long-term institution, the Dutch Delta Programme, on local governments’ decisions. The paper results are based on an analysis of climate adaptation strategies, investment plans and adaptation projects and interviews with policymakers, across seven Dutch municipalities. Results indicate that while local adaptation strategies are largely forward looking, adaptation projects tend to focus on solving present-day issues. We found that the Delta Programme enabled local governments to make forward-looking decisions and policies, by: (1) providing knowledge about climate vulnerabilities, (2) creating a broader framing of the issue of climate change, and (3) providing guidance for developing local climate adaptation policies.