| Article Index |
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| Adaptation to climate change: a powerful tool to reducing the overall cost of mitigation |
| Adaptation defined |
| Forms of adaptation |
| The EU's adaptation plan |
| All Pages |
Page 3 of 4
Forms of adaptation
Accepting the fact that adaptation is a response to climate change and climate variability, a planned adaptation can help to minimize the impacts and vulnerabilities while policy responses through human interfaces attempt to mitigate climate change and its variability.
Policy-driven adaptation can be defined as the result of a deliberate policy decision. Autonomous adaptation is undertaken mainly by the private sector (and in unmanaged natural ecosystems), while policy-driven adaptation is associated with public agencies either in that they set policies to encourage and inform adaptation or they take direct action themselves, such as public investment.
According to a report published by the IPCC on the subject, adaptation can operate at two broad levels:
Building Adaptive Capacity – creating the information and conditions (Regulatory, institutional, managerial) that are needed to support adaptation. Measures to build adaptive capacity range from understanding the potential impacts of climate change, and the options for adaptation (i.e. undertaking impact studies and identifying vulnerabilities), to piloting specific actions and accumulating the resources necessary to implement actions; and
Delivering adaptation actions – taking steps that will help to reduce vulnerability to climate risks or to exploit opportunities. Examples include: planting different crops and altering the timing of crop planting; and investing in physical infrastructure to protect against specific climate risks, such as flood defences or new reservoirs.
The barriers and limits associated with adaptation include the following:
• Uncertainty and imperfect information;
• Missing and misaligned markets, including public goods; and
• Financial constraints, particularly those faced by the poor.
Countries and regions around the world are engaged in developing strategies to overcome the barriers and limitations associated with Adaptation. Here is an example of how the European Union is preparing to capitalize on the power of adaptation.
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