The role of inclusion in climate vulnerability assessment and equitable adaptation goals in small American municipalities

Abstract

Equity and inclusion considerations are important prerequisites of effective climate adaptation planning, especially at a local scale. This study examines how climate adaptation plans of small American cities and counties consider equity in their climate vulnerability assessments and adaptation planning goals and how consideration of equity in existing adaptation plans relates to the inclusion of diverse categories of stakeholders. Data analysis is based on the content of 23 local climate adaptation plans of small urban and rural municipalities across the United States with populations of less than 300 thousand people. Correlations between conceptualization of vulnerability dimensions, inclusion of 9 categories of stakeholders, and consideration of equity in 12 different domains of climate adaptation planning are examined. The study concludes that municipalities that engage more diverse groups of stakeholders and examine the sensitivity and adaptive capacity of their populations appear to be more attentive to social equity and more likely to offer specific climate adaptation measures focusing on vulnerable groups.