Bijlsma et al. (1996) noted that climate-related change in coastal zones "represents
potential additional stresses on systems that are already under intense and
growing pressure". Climate change is one factor amongst many that affect
coastal ecological systems and societies. Other factors that interact with climate
change include overexploitation of resources, pollution, increasing nutrient
fluxes, decreasing fresh-water availability, sediment starvation and urbanisation
(Goldberg, 1994; Viles and Spencer, 1995). These non-climate stresses decrease
the resilience of coastal systems to cope with natural climate variability and
anticipated climate change (Nicholls and Branson, 1998; Klein and Nicholls,
1999). Bijlsma et al. (1996) concluded that "although the potential impacts
of climate change by itself may not always be the largest threat to natural
coastal systems, in conjunction with other stresses they can become a serious
issue for coastal societies, particularly in those places where the resilience
of natural coastal systems has been reduced."
Policies and practices that are unrelated to climate but which do increase a
system's vulnerability to climate change are termed "maladaptation"
(Burton, 1996, 1997). Examples of maladaptation in coastal zones include investments
in hazardous zones, inappropriate coastal-defence schemes, sand or coral mining
and coastal-habitat conversions. A common cause of maladaptation is a lack of
information on the potential external effects of proposed developments on other
sectors, or a lack of consideration thereof. More proactive and integrated planning
and management of coastal zones is widely suggested as an effective mechanism
for strengthening sustainable development (e.g., Cicin-Sain, 1993; Ehler et
al., 1997; Cicin-Sain and Knecht, 1998) and can be both environmentally sound
and economically efficient (Tol et al., 1996).
To identify the most appropriate coastal-adaptation strategy, one must consider
the full context in which impacts of climate change arise, and realise that the
three earlier-mentioned strategies-protect, retreat, accommodate-happen within
a broader policy process. Within this process, increasing resilience by reversing
maladaptive trends could be an important option to reduce coastal vulnerability
to climate variability and change. This approach will often address more than
climate issues alone and generally involve a change in adaptation strategy, for
example, nourishing beaches instead of constructing seawalls, or introducing a
building setback instead of allowing construction next to the coast.
