Abstract: Across the EU, member states and local governments are addressing the challenge of managing impacts of climate change. Among policy makers as well as in academia, there is growing concern for how to successfully implement adaptation policy and address issues that involve a wide range of actors and areas of society, and that involve uncertainty regarding the scale of impacts and effects of instruments. The sectoral organisation of public policy has shown to halter development of climate adaptation actions (Adele and Russel, 2013); likewise, implementation research has demonstrated the challenges in effective policy implementation when policies and policy actions at one level are influenced by policies and policy actions at other levels of policy making, from the European to the local level (Mickwitz et al, 2009). Thus, the coordination of climate adaptation objectives with policy issues and objectives across sectors and across levels of policy making emerges as crucial for effective climate adaptation.  In recognition of this challenge the EU Adaptation Strategy (COM (2013) 216 final) calls for mainstreaming or integration of adaptation into all relevant policies and programmes in order to ‘climate-proof EU action’. 

This presentation gives an overview how this challenge is being addressed in Denmark. It analyses how the EU principle of integration is reflected in the Danish national adaptation strategy, and how the strategy is implemented across policy sectors (transportation, agriculture, health etc.) and in municipalities which are the primary actors in climate adaptation. The analysis focuses specifically on drivers for and barriers to effective implementation of climate adaptation policies. 

It is based on research in the EU-financed BASE project – Bottom-up Climate Adaptation Strategies towards a Sustainable Europe - and on a DCE financed project ‘Climate adaptation in local government: institutional barriers in Danish municipalities’.