Institutional Coordination in Response to Cross-Boundary Climate Risks

This review takes stock of recent research on coordination to address cross-boundary climate risks. Institutional actors operating in complex and evolving governance settings increasingly rely on coordination to address climate risks that span various types of boundaries. Across wide-ranging empirical settings, our review finds that processes and outcomes of institutional coordination were consistently influenced by contextual factors, including resource availability and political stability, which can configure the scope of coordination that is possible. Coordination was also influenced by structural factors, such as legal clarity, institutional integration, and scale congruence, along with relational factors, including trust, shared problem framing, and leadership. Our review also reveals a shift toward networked, adaptive, and bottom-up arrangements, particularly in settings characterized by declines in capacity and engagement of higher-level authorities. We further assess approaches to the evaluation of coordination, noting a continued emphasis on process over outcomes. We conclude by identifying directions for future research to inform more effective institutional arrangements for responding to boundary-spanning climate risks.