Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation in Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management at the Regional Scale

Abstract

Adaptation and mitigation measures are important in dealing with climate change impacts on agriculture, forestry and water management. Stakeholders have an important role to play in coping with climate change at the regional scale, so it is important to identify which measures they are aware of and which they have implemented. This paper describes the regional adaptation and mitigation measures taken by stakeholders in northern Germany and the connections between the sectoral measures and the spatial scales involved. The study finds that adaptation measures have either been implemented or chosen at the regional scale; that adaptation plays an important role at the regional scale whilst mitigation measures are almost non-existent; that water-related issues link the land use sectors examined; and that experts clearly view the national level as the appropriate level for policy makers to exert political influence on measures relating to climate change.