Governing climate change:

urbanization, vulnerability and challenges for the northern coast of the state of São Paulo, Brazil

Abstract

This paper examines the climate change vulnerability of the Northern Coast of the State of
São Paulo (Litoral Norte Paulista), Brazil. Based on a literature review and a case-study
encompassing the analysis of policy documents, secondary data and semi-structured
interviews with policymakers and civil society representatives, it aims to provide a useful
way to examine the multiple and overlapping processes of environmental, social-economic
and climatic change in this region. By analyzing its vulnerability, the paper argues that the
degree to which these cities are vulnerable to climate change is largely determined by the
broader historic and socio-economic contextual factors. The finding indicates that the social,
economic and cultural changes brought by the last four decades of intense process of
urbanization, tourism exploitation and increasingly economic activities have deepened social
and environmental problems, increasing the vulnerability of particular groups and the
region as a whole to climate variability and change. The cross-scale nature of the problems
and the cross-level interactions of these processes pose significant challenges for the
governance structures and institutions on the region that fail to address the root causes of
vulnerability, highlighting the municipalities’ insufficiency to address the consequences of
a changing environment and climate.