Coastal management and climate change on the island and the sea of Chiloé (Chile): An evaluation of policies, regulations, and instruments

Abstract

The objective of the research described here was to examine the policies, regulations, and instruments that directly or indirectly affect the coastal zones of the island and the sea of Chiloé (CZISC) and to evaluate the adequacy of the current political-administrative system concerning climate change. For this purpose, the Decalogue for Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) has been used as a methodological basis. Likewise, all policies, regulations, and instruments that have an impact on coastal management in Chiloé have been identified and classified based on their adaptation to problems that result from climate change. The documents have been grouped into seven numerical categories (1−7) that range from tools that omit the discourse on climate change (1) to those that focus exclusively on this subject and provide detailed information on the required actions and provisions (7). The lowest level (1) of the classification is predominant in the policies, regulations, and instruments studied, especially those that deal with subnational planning. Based on the strategic diagnosis presented, it was concluded that the lack of a holistic approach and the absence of discourse on climate change observed in Chiloé prevent the transition towards an ICZM model capable of improving human welfare and protecting socio-ecological systems in the long term.