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

=== FAQ 16.4 | What adaptation-related responses to climate change have already been observed, and do they help reduce climate risk? ===

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''Adaptation-related responses are the actions taken with the intention of managing risks by reducing vulnerability or exposure to climate hazards. Responses are increasing and expanding across global regions and sectors, although there is still a lot of opportunity for improvement. Examining the adequacy and effectiveness of the responses is important to guide planning, implementation and expansion.''

The most frequently reported adaptation-related responses are behavioural changes made by individuals and households in response to drought, flooding and rainfall variability in Africa and Asia. Governments are increasingly undertaking planning, and implementing policy and legislation, including, for example, new zoning regulations and building codes, coordination mechanisms, disaster and emergency planning, or extension services to support farmer uptake of drought tolerant crops. Local governments are particularly active in adaptation-related responses, particularly in protecting infrastructure and services, such as water and sanitation. Across all regions, adaptation-related responses are strongly linked to food security, with poverty alleviation a key strategy in the Global South.

Overall, however, the extent of adaptation-related responses globally is low. On average, responses tend to be local, incremental, fragmented, and consistent with Business-As-Usual practices. There are no global regions or sectors where the overall adaptation-related response has been rapid, widespread, substantial and has overcome or challenged key barriers. The extent of adaptation thus remains low globally, with significant potential for increased scope, depth, speed and the challenging of adaptation limits. Examples of low-extent adaptations include shifts by subsistence farmers in crop variety or timing, household flood barriers to protect houses and gardens, and harvesting of water for home and farm use. In contrast, high-extent adaptation means that responses are widespread and coordinated, involve major shifts from normal practices, are rapid, and challenge existing constraints to adaptation. Examples of high-extent adaptations include planned relocation of populations away from increasingly flood-prone areas, and widely implemented social support to communities to prevent migration or displacement due to climate hazards.

Increasing the extent of adaptation-related responses will require more widespread implementation and coordination, more novel and radical shifts from Business-As-Usual practices, more rapid transitions, and challenging or surmounting limits—key barriers—to adaptation. This might include, for example, best-practice programmes implemented in a few communities being expanded to a larger region or country, accelerated implementation of behaviours or regulatory frameworks, coordination mechanisms to support deep structural reform within and across governments, and strategic planning that challenges fundamental norms and underlying constraints to change.

We have very little information on whether existing adaptation-related responses that have already been implemented are reducing climate risks. There is evidence that risks due to extreme heat and flooding have declined, though it is not clear if these are due to specific adaptation-related responses or general and incremental socioeconomic development. It is difficult to assess the effectiveness of adaptation-related responses, and even more difficult to know whether responses are adequate to adapt to rising climate risk. These remain unknown but important questions in guiding implementation and expansion of adaptation-related responses.

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