Editing IPCC:AR6/WGII/Chapter-16 (section)

=== FAQ 16.2 | How does adaptation help to manage key risks and what are its limits? ===

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''Adaptation helps to manage key risks by reducing vulnerability or exposure to climate hazards. However, constraining factors make it harder to plan or implement adaptation and result in adaptation limits beyond which risks cannot be prevented. Limits to adaptation are already being experienced, for instance by coastal communities, small-scale farmers and some natural systems.''

Adaptation-related responses are actions that are taken with the intention of managing risks by reducing vulnerability or exposure to climate hazards. While mitigation responses aim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and slow warming, adaptations respond to the impacts and risks that are unavoidable, either due to past emissions or failure to reduce emissions. However, while these responses intend to reduce risks, it is difficult to determine precise levels of risk reduction that can be attributed to adaptation. Changing levels of risk as well as other actions—such as economic development—make it challenging to definitively connect specific levels of risk reduction with adaptation. Although it is not feasible to assess the adequacy of adaptation for risk reduction at global or regional levels, evidence from specific localised adaptation projects do show that adaptation-related responses reduce risk. Moreover, many adaptation measures offer near-term co-benefits related to mitigation and to sustainable development, including enhancing food security and reducing poverty.

Adaptation responses can occur in natural systems without the intervention of humans, such as species shifting their range, time of breeding, or migration behaviour. Humans can also assist adaptation in natural systems through, for example, conservation activities such as species regeneration projects or protecting ecosystem services. Other adaptation-related responses by humans aim to reduce risk by decreasing vulnerability and/or exposure of people to climate hazards. This includes infrastructural projects (e.g., upgrading water systems to improve flood control), technological innovation (e.g., early-warning systems for extreme events), behavioural change (e.g., shift to new crop types or livelihood strategies), cultural shifts (e.g., changing perspectives on urban greenspace, or increased recognition of Indigenous knowledge and local knowledge) and institutional governance (e.g., adaptation planning, funding and legislation).

While adaptation is important to reduce risk, adaptation cannot prevent all climate impacts from occurring. Adaptation has soft and hard limits, points at which adaptive actions are unable to prevent risks. Soft limits can change over time as additional adaptation options become available, while hard limits will not change as there are no additional adaptive actions that are possible. Soft limits occur largely due to constraints—factors that make it harder to plan and implement adaptation, such as lack of financial resources or insufficient human capacity. Across regions and sectors, the most challenging constraints to adaptation are financial and those related to governance, institutions and policy measures. Limited funding and ineffective governance structures make it difficult to plan and implement adaptation-related responses which can lead to insufficient adaptation to prevent risks. Small-scale farmers and coastal communities are already facing soft limits to adaptation as measures that they have put in place are not enough to prevent loss. If constraints that are limiting adaptation are addressed, then additional adaptation can take place and these soft limits can be overcome. Evidence on limits to adaptation is largely focused on terrestrial and aquatic species and ecosystems, coastal communities, water security, agricultural production, and human health and heat.

Adaptation is critical for responding to unavoidable climate risks. Greater warming will mean more and more severe impacts requiring a high level of adaptation which may face greater constraints and reach soft and hard limits. At high levels of warming, it may not be possible to adapt to some severe impacts.

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