A multicriteria decision analysis framework for developing and evaluating coastal retreat policy

• Published in: Integrated environmental assessment and management Vol. 19; no. 1; pp. 83 - 98
• Main Authors: Skidmore, Tyler A., Cohon, Jared L.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01-01-2023; John Wiley and Sons Inc
• Subjects: Acceptable noise levels; Analysis; Climate Adaptation; Climate Change; Climate change adaptation; Coastal management; Coastal retreat; Cost benefit analysis; Decision analysis; Decision making; Decision Support Techniques; Environmental assessment; Environmental Impact Assessment; Environmental management; Evaluation; Frameworks; Government; Government agencies; Integrated environmental assessment; Managed retreat; MCDA; Multiple criterion; Multiple‐criteria decision analysis; Optimization; Policies; Relocation; Sea level; Stakeholders; Streamlines; Toxicology; Climate adaptation; Multiple-criteria decision analysis; Coastal retreat; Managed retreat; MCDA
• DOI: 10.1002/ieam.4662
• EISSN: 1551-3793
• ISSN: 1551-3777

Managed retreat may be a necessity for coastal communities as sea levels rise due to climate change. Selecting the right policy decisions and timing is difficult given the vested interests of communities and stakeholder groups and requires careful balancing of the benefits and risks associated with each management alternative. State and federal agencies often employ single‐objective optimization frameworks such as cost‐benefit analysis to analyze coastal relocation alternatives, but such methods are limited in their ability to balance competing value considerations and stakeholder demands. The use of a multicriteria decision analysis (MCDA) methodology allows for such considerations to be quantified and evaluated, thereby improving planning and decision‐making for coastal retreat policies. This paper provides a strategic MCDA framework to evaluate coastal retreat policy that could be leveraged by at‐risk coastal communities. The MCDA is applied to a hypothetical coastal retreat scenario to visualize policy preferences and differing value considerations among stakeholders. This model can be used by government agencies to foster more sound, acceptable, and implementable coastal retreat policies and streamline the incorporation of this climate adaptation mechanism, which may be necessary for the near future. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2023;19:83–98. © 2022 The Authors. Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Society of Environmental Toxicology & Chemistry (SETAC).
KEY POINTS
This paper presents a multicriteria decision analysis tool that can assist in the development and evaluation of coastal retreat policy and decision‐making, and demonstrates the tool's functionality in a hypothetical coastal retreat scenario.