Paper short abstract:

The quality of governance frameworks relating to climate change adaptation, and more specifically to migration, in deltas is an important element in the sustainability of communities. Assessing the quality of these frameworks is challenging. This paper presents an assessment method and findings.

Paper long abstract:

Governance frameworks strongly affect how deltas are managed and influence the sustainability of the societies that live in them. They play an important role in mitigating the impact of environmental stressors, adapting to climate change, alleviating the challenges caused by bureaucratic or administrative restrictions and providing certain rights for individuals.

Adopting effective governance systems that establish and enable the widest range of possible adaptations to the impacts of environmental hazards in deltas is challenging however, and assessing the quality of these frameworks difficult. Legal, institutional and policy frameworks affecting adaptation cross many policy areas and multiple scales, and unpicking these specifically in relation to deltas has not been done. More specifically in relation to governance as it affects migration, much of the literature has focused on international movement or on human rights aspects of internal displacement.

This paper presents the results of the application of an extensive multi-scale governance assessment method to four deltas, based on international best practice and focusing on human rights, natural resource management, disaster risk management and climate change. The findings suggest that the quality and effectiveness of these frameworks is not directly correlated with a country's economic situation, and highlights the importance of procedural human rights (especially rights to information) in protecting the most vulnerable in deltas. They also demonstrate the disproportionate importance of a number of key pieces of legislation at the national level.