In post-Paris climate governance, the old mantra that ‘mitigation is global; adaptation is local’ is questioned with increased urgency. A highly localized, place-based approach to accelerating adaptation action seems insufficient. This raises the question: is more global and transnational governance adaptation required, and is it emerging?
A new Special Issue of International Environmental Agreements – “Exploring global and transnational governance of climate change adaptation” – addresses these questions and provides conceptual approaches as well as empirical research to stimulate a broader academic and policy debate. The Special Issue gathers researchers active in earth system governance and offers six papers and an editorial that address issues such as whether adaptation constitutes a regional/global public good, adaptation cooperation from an IR lens, traditional framings of adaptation, and the patterns and effectiveness of existing transnational governance initiatives on adaptation. (Read more)