Climate Change Adaptation Strategies in Coastal United States: Barriers and Bridges for Monitoring and Evaluation

Abstract

As the impacts of climate change begin to surface in all regions of the world, it has become clear that mitigation cannot stand alone in addressing this issue. Adaptation to current and projected climate change impacts is imperative and as a result, adaptation has received increased attention in recent years. As these strategies become more prevalent, monitoring and evaluation for adaptation effectiveness must be employed, especially in vulnerable coastal regions. Due to the characteristics of climate change, developing and implementing these plans is especially challenging. Following the logic of a rapid appraisal, semi-structured interviews were conducted with individuals in six coastal areas in the United States. Interviews focused on better understanding the barriers and bridges to monitoring and evaluation of climate adaptation. This study found that monitoring and evaluation is being discussed and considered in four out of the six areas reviewed with a variety of barriers and bridges reported.