Adaptive Governance and Climate Change

Brunner Ronald D., Lynch Amanda H.

While recent years have seen undeniable progress in international acknowledgement both of the dangers of climate change and the importance of working to mitigate it, little has actually been done. Emissions continue to rise, and even the ambitious targets set by international accords would fall far short of the drastic cuts that are needed to prevent catastrophe.

With "Adaptive Governance and Climate Change", Ronald D. Brunner and Amanda H. Lynch argue that we need to take a new tack, moving away from reliance on centralized, top-down approaches – the treaties and accords that have proved disappointingly ineffective thus far – and towards a more flexible, multi-level approach. Based in the principles of adaptive governance – which are designed to produce programs that adapt quickly and easily to new information and experimental results – such an approach would encourage diversity and innovation in the search for solutions, while at the same time pointedly recasting the problem as one in which every culture and community around the world has an inherent interest.

About the Author

Ronald D. Brunner is a policy scientist specializing in the integration of theory and practice.

Amanda H. Lynch is head of Monash Climate and a professor in the School of Geography and Environmental Sciences at Monash University.

Reviews

"In the wake of Copenhagen, this book couldn't be more timely for those genuinely concerned about climate change and disappointed with the outcomes of climate policies to date. Brunner and Lynch have provided a much-needed reframing of climate science, policy, and decision making in the context of adaptive governance" – Judith A. Curry, chair, School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology

"Brunner and Lynch offer a persuasive alternative to the 'big science, big politics' formula for combating global climate change" – Matthew R. Auer, professor of International Environmental Policy, Indiana University

"Brunner and Lynch present a feasible, integrative mode of democratic decision making that, if wisely applied, can avert the disastrous consequences of so many ambitious public initiatives" – Michael Reisman, McDougal Professor of International Law, Yale Law School

"Finding ways to reduce the risk of dangerous climate change is going to require policy experts and climate scientists to learn how to work together. This fascinating and provocative book is proof that such unusual collaborations can actually succeed" – Richard Somerville, Distinguished Professor Emeritus at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UCSD

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