8 December 2018: The Network of Regional Governments for Sustainable Development (nrg4SD) launched a report on the role of multi-level governance and integration of agendas in achieving effective implementation of the Paris Agreement on climate change at the 24th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 24) to the UNFCCC. The report advocates for vertical integration and multi-level governance in the climate change agenda, underscoring the critical role of regional governments in climate policy.

The report titled, ‘RegionsAdapt 2018: Multi-level Governance in Climate Change Adaptation,’ provides data from 38 regional governments from 16 countries (Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Côte d’Ivoire, Ecuador, France, Ghana, Mexico, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Spain, Uruguay, the UK and the US), that reported their climate risks and adaptation efforts as one of the commitments they agreed upon by joining the initiative. More than half of the disclosing governments have completed a climate risk or vulnerability assessment, and another 16 percent of governments are in the process of undertaking such an assessment. The report underscores the importance of such assessments in developing adequate adaptation strategies and measures.

Among the most reported socioeconomic risks are health risks and increased incidents and prevalence of disease.

The report identifies a number of current and future risks resulting from climate impacts, including 185 physical risks, 97 socioeconomic risks and 79 risks to regional governments’ water supply, including water stress or scarcity, declining water quality and flooding. The most common climate impacts causing physical risks are extreme rainfall events (reported by 71 percent of disclosing governments), more frequent or intense heat waves (54 percent) and more frequent or intense droughts and more hot days (both 51 percent). In addition, 37 percent of governments reported change of seasonality of rainfall and increased sea level rise. The most reported socioeconomic risks are increased risks to already vulnerable populations, health risks and increased incidents and prevalence of disease.

To respond to these risks, the report finds that regional governments are developing and implementing a range of more than 260 different adaptation strategies and actions. The five most common types of adaptation actions undertaken by disclosing governments are real time risk monitoring, community engagement and education, incorporating climate change into long-term planning documents, flood mapping and biodiversity monitoring. Governments also engage in actions related to targeting the most vulnerable through policies and projects, implementing resilience and resistance measures for building, restricting development in at risk areas, planting trees or creating green spaces, promoting and incentivizing water efficiency and modeling sea level rise. The report notes an additional 41 adaptation actions do not fall into a category, underscoring that adaptation is specific to a particular territory and its conditions. On the whole, the report finds that regional governments are implementing ambitious actions that can help reduce vulnerabilities, and recommends continued adaptation efforts.

The report is the third annual report of the RegionsAdapt initiative. The 2018 report is the first one that includes multi-level analysis. [Publication: Multi-level Governance in Climate Change Adaptation] [SDG Knowledge Hub Sources] [IISD RS Coverage of Katowice Climate Conference]