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After the 19th CPC national congress, Chinese Communist Party and the government put forward higher requirements for the development of coastal zones, and it is urgent to establish an integrated coastal zone management system, so as to better guarantee the construction of maritime powers and regional coordinated development. The purpose of this paper is to aim at re-examining and positioning China’s integrated coastal zone management.

This paper sorts out the current situation of coastal zone resources and environment, summarizes prominent problems and clarifies the path of comprehensive management of coastal zone based on the typicality and comprehensiveness of coastal ecosystem.

Coastal zone is a typical area of “life community shared among mountains, rivers, forests, fields, lakes and grass.” However, there are three prominent problems at present, namely, separation between land and sea, separation among industry sectors and separation among administrative jurisdictions. Coastal zone planning and legislation are important measures to realize the comprehensive management of coastal zone.

This paper puts forward some suggestions on the reform of coastal zone management from the perspective of planning and legislation.

Coastal zone ecological restoration project is of great significance to alleviate marine ecological degradation. Evaluating the effect of coastal ecological restoration projects and identifying the obstacle factors affecting their restoration level can provide an empirical basis for future Marine ecological restoration projects.

However, due to the initial stage of coastal zone ecological restoration projects, the actual monitoring data of coastal zone ecological restoration is relatively lacking. Based on the CRITIC-TOPSIS (combination of CRITIC method and TOPSIS method) method, combined with the subjective perception of the public and the actual data of the restoration project, this paper proposes an evaluation method of the coastal zone ecological restoration effect to obtain the specific implementation effect of the coastal zone ecological restoration project. The main obstacle factors affecting the evaluation of coastal ecological restoration effect are identified by using the obstacle degree model.

This paper conducted an empirical study on the restoration of sandy shoreline and coastal wetland in Qinhuangdao city. Based on the data of restoration projects and the subjective perception of ecological restoration by the public in Qinhuangdao city, the research results showed that the coastal zone ecological restoration effect of Qinhuangdao city was general. The quality of the restoration project and the public perception have an important influence on the evaluation of the restoration effect. Improving the quality of the restoration project, strengthening the public's participation in ecological restoration and allowing the public to better participate in the ecological restoration of the coastal zone can improve the effect of ecological restoration of the coastal zone in an all-round way.

The research results of this paper have a guiding role in the ecological restoration of coastal cities in the future, and also have a demonstration and reference role for the assessment of the effect of ecological restoration of coastal zones.

Population migration to the coastal zone has increased by 50 to 70 per cent. Conflicts of inhabitation and use are escalating rapidly. Single use is economically risky if not unsound. In traditional societies multiple‐use has been exercised successfully. Concentration among today′s users should lead to an acceptable balance and to sustainable situations. Physical, biological and geological equilibria and conservation should be maintained. For this to happen communication approaches should be fine‐tuned.

History has taught us that every aspect of the world around us is changing. Right from its formation, the earth has been evolving climatically, edaphically, and biotically to its present state. The forcing for all these changes in the past was natural, and human activities had least influence till the industrial revolution. Since the beginning of the 18th century, human activities associated with the industrial revolution have changed the composition of the atmosphere and thereby having a greater influence on the earth's climate. The use of fossil fuels like coal and oil coupled with deforestation has increased the concentration of heat-trapping “greenhouse gases,” which prevent the heat from the earth escaping to space. Because of this, the very greenhouse gases, which helped sustain life on the earth under normal circumstances, have become detrimental due to its higher concentration. Several models have predicted that the rising concentrations of greenhouse gases produce an increase in the average surface temperature of the earth over time. Rising temperatures may, in turn, produce changes in precipitation patterns, storm severity, and sea level, commonly referred to as “climate change.” The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) defines climate change broadly as “any change in climate over time whether due to natural variability or as a result of human activity.” The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) defines climate change as “a change of climate that is attributed directly or indirectly to human activity, that alters the composition of the global atmosphere, and that is in addition to natural climate variability over comparable time periods.”

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the potential of strategic environmental assessment (SEA) to mainstream consideration of climate change adaptation (CCA) in Bangladesh, particularly for the coastal zone, to improve disaster risk reduction (DRR) strategies in this region. Continuing climate risks require adaptation at all levels of society. The densely populated and resource-rich coastal zone of Bangladesh is at risk to the impacts of climate change.

This research is based on secondary sources (gray and published literature) of information on climate change impacts on the coastal zone of Bangladesh. The sources include research reports, online publications, governmental reports, scientific journals, international reports, books, journal articles and other academic resources on SEA, climate change adaptation and mitigation, and DRR. In addition to examining SEA in Bangladesh, this paper investigates SEA cases in different countries to obtain insights from the successful application of SEA for CCA.

The paper draws on several cases from different countries demonstrating that SEA has a significant potential to coordinate CCA objectives. The findings reveal that the appropriate use of SEA can enable DRR through CCA.

This study argues that SEA has a potential role in supporting CCA.

In recent years, the manifestation of the effects of climate change in coastal zones has prompted governments to mobilize and propose adaptation measures to reduce the vulnerability of their populations. For the governments responsible for the implementation of climate policies, adaptation still represents a novel field of action. The purpose of this paper is to show, via the example of Quebec’s coastal zone, how the transformation of public action relating to adaptation remains difficult.

For this case study, a qualitative method which combines documentary analysis and semi-directed interviews was selected.

The study shows how adaptation becomes a new issue in public action for the different authorities dealing with the effects of climate change in Quebec’s coastal zone. However, the results show that, as with other public policies, path dependence and incrementalism can be observed and limit the scope of public action and of the transformational processes in the field of adaptation. The technical–scientific approach to risk management is dominant, and the adaptation is not approached in a transversal way, despite its importance. Finally, concrete adaptation initiatives appear to be mostly relegated to the local scale, in an informal decentralization process.

This study contributes to improve climate action by favouring a reflection on the consideration of the conceptual and theoretical framework in the climate change adaptation literature and offers decision-makers and practitioners keys to the understanding of mechanisms underlying public action in the field of adaptation.

This paper aims to not only disentangle the recently altered law and policy on coastal management in New South Wales (NSW), Australia, but also raise opportunities for fresh ideas to develop when dealing with both existing and future coastal damage. The focus is on the role of local government which is not only closer to concerned citizens but also faces costal damage on its own doorstep.

The paper explores the topic from the beginnings of relevant statutory law to the current situation, supported by a case study. It is transdisciplinary in nature, encompassing land use and coastal legislation.

The narrative encourages further attention to the key issues at the local level. This is underpinned by the need for planners to move beyond zoning and other restrictive mechanisms to more strategic approaches. All levels of government must recognise that regulatory planning on its own is insufficient. This leads to the need for champions to consider opportunities beyond the ordinary.

While this paper will add to a growing literature on coastal damage and action at the local level, its emphasis on the benefits and limitations of the changing statutory system will assist not only policy makers but professional officers at the local forefront.

This paper reviews the relationship between property and the changing coastal environment. It looks at issues around the mismatch between the protection of private property rights implicit in our property law, which assumes stability and permanence, and the protection of public rights and environmental values expected of coastal land, which is increasingly vulnerable to climate change hazard. Issues of retreat from the coast, perhaps with compensation and incentives, will need to be dealt with.

New Zealand situations and examples are used to illustrate the conflicts between secure property rights and changing coastal land.

The effects of climate change on coastal land will be significant. This era of environmental degradation and climate change will require a significant re-ordering of property law. Changes in coastal land will require property owners to adapt their use and occupation of the coastal zone, if necessary by retreating. Similarly, local authorities will need to be proactive in planning for coastal land changes.

Property will need to be re-imagined to support public and environmental goals for the coast.

This paper extends other discussions about how property law and the protection of property rights is a barrier to implementing climate change responses.

Coastal access has been, and continues to be, a controversial issue with both beachgoers and adjoining property owners having equally compelling legal rights to use and enjoy the shore. Federal, state and local governments have tried to provide for the high demand for recreational coastal access while accommodating the shorefront property owners through legislation, regulation, land use planning programs, and technical assistance. Budget cuts and reduction of resources experienced by most governments require that they create or adapt low cost and effective public access programs. This selective annotated bibliography highlights a variety of resources that describe or advocate successful public coastal access policies and programs which may be utilized by government entities or other public policy making bodies in implementing their own access programs.

In addition to climate changes, human activities in the sea coast area are also important in the context of coastal erosion. There is a need to consider possible measures of adaptation at a national level to solve this issue. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the findings of the interviews made by the author and come to conclusions about residents' attitude towards possible measures of adaptation to the coastal erosion in Latvia.

The research was made by interviewing those seashore residents whose households are most influenced by sea coast erosion along the entire coastline of Latvia in the areas where erosion rate is projected to be at least 6 m until the year of 2025.

Half of the interviewees consider hard coast defense structures as an effective adaptation measure to the sea coast erosion in households concerned. The other half would not support that because of either long‐term ineffectiveness or other unwilling consequences. Retreat as a strategy is acceptable only for quite a small part of interviewees.

The results of the research can be taken into consideration when making political decisions concerning adaptation to climate change.