Policies and regulations

The right policies and regulations can boost action and support implementation of climate adaptation. While regulations take time to develop, it is nevertheless important to share best practices which support adaptation actions. Policies is a long-term endeavour, but key interventions can make a lot of difference triggering adaptation actions.

Why?

Policies and regulations provide important tools for creating an enabling environment for adaptation. They ensure that the rules are in use that regulate behavior that have resilient outcomes. 

In general, resilience has not been integrated in many national policy frameworks. Hear more about that in this webinar on resilient policies at the COP 26 in 2021.  

For example, a policy in Oslo municipality states that all surface storm water needs to be taken care of by sustainable urban drainage systems (SUDS) sometimes also called open drainage. This has created many green solutions above ground, improving the urban environment and creating many attractive spaces to live, work and play. 

Policies for floating development are often missing in countries, and one solution to that is to look abroad for existing policies. For example the Dutch regulations have been used in other countries, when there was none available. 

We are looking for your stories and cases, please submit them by registering as a user to this site (top right corner) and add content. Tag the article or case study with "Policies". We are interested in stories on:

  • Policies and regulations at national level
  • Policies at regional level
  • Policies at local government level
  • Tacit norms and rules at local level

Articles

freshwater
Event

Community Dialogue - mainstreaming water adaptation

08/11/2022 - 16:00

Water governance is often not fit to respond to the adaptation challenges, being fragmented and insufficiently integrated with climate change planning. National, provincial and municipal governments and water boards hold different responsibilities for putting in place good water governance but sometimes lack capacity and coordination. Therefore, the current water crisis is very much a governance crisis exacerbated by climate change

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Water kiosk
Case Study

Catchment based integrated water resources management for climate change adaptation in Uganda

A project to support catchment-based planning and development of water resources to enhance the adaptive capacity of climate was implemented in Mpanga, Rwizi and Aswa catchments in the Albert, Victoria and Upper Nile Water Management zones. As a result of the project the beneficiaries should be able to adapt to the impacts of climate change while improving their livelihoods through the various small scale projects.

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city
Event

Global knowledge exchange - Urban Climate Risk Assessment

13/02/2023 - 15:00 to 17:00

On February 13, 2023 at 15:00-17:00 CET an interactive global knowledge exchange on urban climate risk assessment will  was hosted for city officials and risk assessment practitioners to discuss and exchange knowledge on assessing and addressing informal settlements, and exchange knowledge of successes and challenges with implementation, after risk assessments.

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Oslo Vahlsgade at the Botanical Garden Credits Berit Roald NTB Scanpix
Case Study

Policy on open stormwater in Oslo - a game changer

The Oslo municipality policy on stormwater has turned out to be a game changer for the city's green spaces and water management. 

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Bartels and Vedder floating house in The Netherlands
Article

Supporting Regulations for Floating Development

Dutch regulations on floating development are often used by other countries. We republish here in Dutch the guide that maps the bottlenecks in being able to comply with the technical regulations in the Building Decree 2012 and indicate how these can be resolved.

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