Climate problem and territorial governance: an overview of adaptation initiatives at the French regional level

International audienceThis chapter focuses on the CCA part of these regional plans. It aims to understand how adaptation issues are dealt with at the French regional level and what forms of governance are produced. It is based on an analysis of the decision making processes behind the climate-change adaptation chapter of these SRCAE, led through documents investigation and semi-structured interviews with the main actors involved in these processes (Richard, 2013); the second part of the chapter deals with the analysis of the action of French regions facing the effects of climate change seized through documents and plans investigation. This chapter will thus call particular attention to potential changes in governance (Bertrand et al., 2012; Richard, 2013). It will point out the still importance of the national frame for the building up of CCA even at a regional scale.To introduce this analysis of public practices at the French regional level, we will first present the theoretical and conceptual framework behind the question of local governance climate-change adaptation. This will be followed by an analysis of the institutionalization and debate processes of CCA in the French regions by means of the SRCAEs. Finally, through an analysis of CCA content in the SRCAEs we will point out that regional strategies range from copying a national model to making an attempt at regionalization