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Journal article

Explaining and overcoming barriers to climate change adaptation

This article examines the state of scientific knowledge on barriers to adaptation to climate change.

Richard J. T. Klein / Published on 25 September 2014

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Citation

Eisenack, K., S.C. Moser, E. Hoffmann, R.J.T. Klein, C. Oberlack, A. Pechan, M. Rotter and C.J.A.M. Termeer (2014). Explaining and overcoming barriers to climate change adaptation. Nature Climate Change, 4, 867–872; published online 25 September 2014.

The concept of barriers is increasingly used to describe the obstacles that hinder the planning and implementation of climate change adaptation. The growing literature on barriers to adaptation reveals not only commonly reported barriers, but also conflicting evidence, and few explanations of why barriers exist and change. There is thus a need for research that focuses on the interdependencies between barriers and considers the dynamic ways in which barriers develop and persist. Such research, which would be actor-centred and comparative, would help to explain barriers to adaptation and provide insights into how to overcome them.

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SEI author

Richard J.T. Klein
Richard J. T. Klein

Team Leader: International Climate Risk and Adaptation; Senior Research Fellow

SEI Headquarters

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