Moving beyond the plan: Exploring the opportunities to accelerate the implementation of municipal climate change adaptation policies and plans

Abstract Across the globe, ecosystems, biodiversity and human societies are experiencing the escalating and often catastrophic impacts of anthropogenic climate change. Well‐considered, properly resourced and trans‐scalar adaptation responses are essential. Local governments (e.g., municipal councils) can provide crucial support to communities enabling planning, response and recovery from climate change impacts. While innumerable municipal climate change adaptation policies, strategies and plans have been developed, the implementation of adaptation actions typically lags, creating a planning‐to‐implementation gap. Contributing factors and the opportunities to overcome key constraints remain underexplored. This article reports the results of research addressing that knowledge gap analysing the circumstances that give rise to a municipal climate adaptation implementation gap, and the opportunities to progress from adaptation planning to implementation. Interviews with 25 local government leaders and staff reveal five key opportunities to advance the implementation of adaptation polices and plans—(i) mobilising novel finance solutions; (ii) developing an adaptation skills pipeline; (iii) building collaborative and trans‐disciplinary ways of working across municipal councils; (iv) enhancing the salience and prominence of adaptation as a core municipal concern and (v) legislating for municipal climate change adaptation mainstreaming. Establishing good climate governance and improving capacity for adaptation will be critical if local governments are to close the municipal climate change adaptation planning‐to‐implementation gap.