Climate Adaptation Governance Systems

This research paper examines the discourse and implementation of climate adaptation strategies in Sweden through a securitization lens to determine if climate change is treated as a security issue or as part of normal politics.

• While there are instances of threat- and risk-oriented securitizations in climate adaptation strategy, the majority of evidence indicates that discourses and practices align with normal politics across various governance levels. At the national level, climate adaptation is managed similarly to other policy domains.
• Sweden's climate adaptation governance involves centralized decision-making for goal prioritization, followed by monitoring via accountability mechanisms that extend from national to subregional and local levels. The national government retains control over monitoring and finances, while municipalities have significant autonomy regarding the methods used to reach adaptation goals.
• The prevalence of normal policymaking over securitization in Swedish climate change adaptation is strongly influenced by three factors: scarce resources, organizational fragmentation, and the significant role played by experts.

APA

Stockholm Environment Institute (2024). Climate Adaptation Governance Systems. https://www.sei.org/publications/climate-adaptation-governance-systems/

Chicago

Stockholm Environment Institute. Climate Adaptation Governance Systems. 2024. https://www.sei.org/publications/climate-adaptation-governance-systems/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Stockholm Environment Institute |title=Climate Adaptation Governance Systems |date=10 December 2024 |url=https://www.sei.org/publications/climate-adaptation-governance-systems/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{stockholmenvironmentinstitute2024climate, author = {{Stockholm Environment Institute}}, title = {{Climate Adaptation Governance Systems}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2024}, month = dec, url = {https://www.sei.org/publications/climate-adaptation-governance-systems/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }