Phase III-The Preparedness of Coastal Government and Governance for Climate Change

The overarching objective of the study is to develop a typology of coastal zone governance models in Mozambique and South Africa, and to test their preparedness to effectively respond to the challenges of climate change. Intuitively, it could be argued that at the local level, there will be a range of institutional arrangements (both within government and outside it), and that the response to the challenges of climate change across this range will depend on, inter alia, human and financial resources, socio-political arrangements and the strength of policies and other management instruments.

This project focuses on the government institutions and models of governance in the face of climate change and will aim to answer the following research questions: Can the various governance models along the coast of Mozambique and the east coast of South Africa effectively respond to the challenges of climate change? What is the current status of coastal governance and integrated coastal management (ICM) within the local coastal authorities and organisations? Does the awareness and implementation of ICM make the local level of formal and informal government less vulnerable to the impacts of climate change?

this study elaborated on the different governance arrangements along the coast of Mozambique and South Africa in order to establish how existing coastal management can cope with the projected challenges of climate change. The research focused on two coastal issues likely to be significantly impacted by climate change, namely the management of fisheries resources and spatial planning. The methodological approach was “bottom-up” in order to gather data and information on the lowest levels of coastal management, either as formal government structures or arrangements involving partnerships between the state and civil society.