AR6: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability

Chapter 3: Oceans and Coastal Ecosystems and Their Services

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3.6 Planned Adaptation and Governance to Achieve the Sustainable Development Goals

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3.6.3 Implementation and Effectiveness of Adaptation and Mitigation Measures

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3.6.3.3 Enablers, Barriers and Limitations of Adaptation and Mitigation

Figure FAQ3.5.1 |  Contributions of nature-based solutions (NbS) in the oceans to the Sustainable Development Goals. The icons at the bottom show the Sustainable Development Goals to which NbS in the ocean possibly contribute. 

Please reference page 499 to see Figure FAQ 3.5.1, which mentions SDG 5: Gender Equality. 

3.6.3.3.1 Sociocultural dimensions (culture, ethics, identity, behaviour)

Adaptations implemented at the local level that consider IKLK systems are beneficial (high confidence) (Nalau et  al., 2018; Sultana et  al., 2019). Studies in SIDS and the Arctic have shown how IKLK facilitate the success of EbA (Nalau et  al., 2018; Peñaherrera-Palma et  al., 2018; Raymond-Yakoubian and Daniel, 2018), reinforce and improve institutional approaches and enhance the provision of ecosystem services (Ross et  al., 2019; Terra Stori et  al., 2019). Perspectives on adaptation also vary among groups of age, race, (dis)ability, class, caste and gender (Wilson et al., 2020b), so engaging different groups results in more robust and equitable adaptation to climate change (CrossChapter Box GENDER in Chapter 18; McLeod et al., 2018). Some coastal communities have developed substantial social capital and dense local networks based on trust and reciprocity (Petzold and Ratter, 2015), with individual and community flexibility to learn, adapt and organise themselves to help local adaptation governance (Silva et  al., 2020). Recent evidence suggests that policies supporting local institutions can improve adaptation outcomes (medium confidence) (Berman et al., 2020). Coastal communities can be engaged using novel approaches to co-generate adaptation solutions (van der Voorn et al., 2017; Flood et  al., 2018) that benefit education (Koenigstein et  al., 2020) and engagement in adaptation processes (Rumore et al., 2016). Successful adaptation implementation in line with climate resilient development pathways (WGII Chapter 18) depends on bottom-up, participatory and inclusive processes (Section 3.6.1.2.1) that engage diverse stakeholders (Basel et al., 2020; McNamara et al., 2020; Ogier et al., 2020; Williams et  al., 2020) and protect Indigenous customary rights (Farbotko and McMichael, 2019; Ford et al., 2020), empower women and give rights to climate refugees (McLeod et al., 2018).

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3.6.4 Contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals and Other Relevant Policy Frameworks

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3.6.4.2 Contribution of Ocean Adaptation to SDGs

Developing marine adaptation pathways that offer multiple benefits requires transformational adaptation (high confidence) (Claudet et al., 2020a; Friedman et al., 2020; Wilson et al., 2020b; Nash et al., 2021) that avoids risky and maladaptive actions (Magnan and Duvat, 2018; Ojea et  al., 2020). Ocean and coastal extreme events and other hazards disproportionately harm the most vulnerable communities in SIDS, tropical and Arctic regions, and Indigenous Peoples (Chapter 8.2.1.2). Presently implemented adaptation activity, at the aggregate level, adversely affects multiple gender targets under SDG5 (high confidence) (Cross-Chapter Box GENDER in Chapter 18). Although women make up over half of the global seafood production workforce (fishing and processing sectors), provide more than half the artisanal landings in the Pacific region (Harper et al., 2013), dominate some seafood sectors such as seaweed (Howard and Pecl, 2019) and shellfish harvesting (Turner et  al., 2020a) and account for 11% of global artisanal fisheries participants (Harper et al., 2020b), they are often not specifically counted in datasets and excluded from decision making and support programmes (Cross-Chapter  Box  GENDER in Chapter  18; Harper et  al., 2020b; Michalena et  al., 2020). Targeted efforts to incorporate knowledge diversity, and include artisanal fishers, women and Indigenous Peoples within international, regional and local policy planning, promote marine adaptation that supports achievement of gender equality (SDG5) and reduces inequalities (SDG10) (limited evidence, high agreement) (FAO, 2015). Integrated planning, financing and implementation can help overcome these limitations (Section  3.6.3.3.2; Cross-Chapter  Box  FINANCE in Chapter  17), ensuring that marine adaptations do not compromise overall human equity or specific SDGs (Österblom et al., 2020; Nash et al., 2021), but are in fact fully synergistic with these goals (Bennett et al., 2021). 

Table 3.31 |  Sustainable Development Goals, grouped into broader categories as discussed in this section