Non-state actors and climate change adaptation processes: A case study from Tanzania

Abstract

Climate change is now considered as one of the most serious global threat to sustainable development. Currently, knowledge is plentiful on how to adapt to climate change and build resilience to its impacts, but putting that expertise into practice remains a problem around the world, especially in the least developed countries. This study seeks to contribute to empirical evidence on the barriers that constrain non-state actors in developing countries to facilitate and promote actions for adaptation to climate change. The aim is to identify practical examples to support international initiatives under the Paris Agreement that would support adaptation in developing countries with appropriate actions. The study used in‐depth semi structured interviews to 40 experts specialized in climate science and environmental change from Tanzania, to investigate the country’s barriers and how has the government attempted to overcome them. The results indicate absence of rightful solutions and their relevance to the local situation that support and explicitly recognize the role of non-state actors to sustainable development solutions. The experts argued that current mechanisms that could increase active involvement and representation of non-state actors lack clear specification. These findings have implications on how to better integrate non-state actors into local climate adaptation initiatives.