Editing IPCC:AR6/WGII/Chapter-10 (section)

=== FAQ 10.2 | What are the current and emerging adaptation options across Asia? ===

<div id="h2-28-siblings" class="h2-siblings"></div>

''Mirroring the heterogeneity across Asia, different countries and communities are undertaking a range of reactive and proactive strategies to manage risk in various sectors. Several of these adaptation actions show promise, reducing vulnerability and improving societal well-being. However, challenges remain around scaling up adaptation actions in a manner that is effective and inclusive while simultaneously meeting national development goals.''

Asia exhibits tremendous variation in terms of ecosystems, economic development, cultures and climate risk exposure. Mirroring this variation, households, communities and governments have a wide range of coping and adaptation strategies to deal with changing climatic conditions, with co-benefits for various non-climatic issues such as poverty, conflict and livelihood dynamics.

Currently, Asian countries have rich evidence on managing risk, drawing on long histories of dealing with change. For example, to deal with erratic rainfall and shifting monsoons, farmers make incremental shifts such as changing what and when they grow or adjusting their irrigation practices. Communities living in coastal settlements are using Early warning systems to prepare for cyclones or raising the height of their houses to minimise flood impacts. These types of strategies, seen across all Asian sub-regions, based on local social and ecological contexts, are termed ''autonomous adaptations'' that occur incrementally and help people manage current impacts.

Currently and in the future, Asia is identified as one of regions most vulnerable to climate change, especially on extreme heat, flooding, sea level rise and erratic rainfall. All these climatic risks, when overlaid on existing development deficits, show us that incremental adaptation will not be enough; transformational change is required. Recognising this, at subnational and national levels, government and non-governmental actors are also prioritising ''planned adaptation strategies'' which include interventions like ‘climate-smart agriculture’ as seen in South and Southeast Asian countries, or changing labour laws to reduce exposure to heat as seen in West Asia. These are often sectoral priorities governments lay out through national or subnational policies and projects, drawing on various sources of funding: domestic, bilateral and international. Apart from these planned adaptation strategies in social systems, Asian countries also report and invest in adaptation measures in natural systems such as expanding nature reserves to enable species conservation or setting up habitat corridors to facilitate landscape connectivity and species movements across climatic gradients.

Overall, the fundamental challenges that Asia will see exacerbated under climate change are around water and food insecurity, poverty and inequality, and increased frequency and severity of extreme events. In some places and for some people, climate change, even at 1.5°C and more so at 2°C, will significantly constrain the functioning and well-being of human and ecological systems. Asian cities, villages and countries are rising to this current and projected challenge, albeit somewhat unevenly.

Some examples of innovative adaptation actions are China’s ‘Sponge Cities’ which are trying to protect ecosystems while reducing risk for people, now and in the future. Another example is India’s Heat Action Plans that are using ‘cool roofs’ technologies and awareness-building campaigns to reduce the impacts of extreme heat. Across South and Southeast Asia, climate-smart agriculture programmes are reducing GHG emissions associated with farming while helping farmers adapt to changing risks. Each country is experimenting with infrastructural, nature-based, technological, institutional and behavioural strategies to adapt to current and future climate change with local contexts shaping both the possibility of undertaking such actions as well as the effectiveness of these actions to reduce risk. What works for ageing cities in Japan exposed to heatwaves and floods may not work for pastoral communities in the highlands of Central Asia, but there is progress on understanding what actions work and for whom. The challenge is to scale current adaptation action, especially in the most exposed areas and for the most vulnerable populations, as well as move beyond adapting to single risks alone (i.e., adapt to multiple coinciding risks such as flooding and water scarcity in coastal cities across South Asia or extreme heat and flash floods in West Asia). In this context, funding and implementing adaptation is essential, and while Asian countries are experimenting with a range of autonomous and planned adaptation actions to deal with these multiple and often concurrent challenges, making current development pathways climate resilient is necessary and, some might argue, unavoidable.

'''Table FAQ10.2.1 |''' System transitions, sectors and illustrative adaptation options

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! System transitions

! Sectors

! Illustrative adaptation options

|-
| Energy and industrial systems

| Energy and industries

| Diversifying energy sources

Improving energy access, especially in rural areas

Improving resilience of power infrastructure

Rehabilitation and upgrading of old buildings

|-
| rowspan="4"| Land and ecosystems

| Terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems

| Expanding nature reserves

Assisted species migration

Introducing species to new regions to protect them from climate-induced extinction risk

Sustainable forest management including afforestation, forest fuel management, fire management

|-
| Ocean and coastal ecosystems

| Marine protected areas

Mangrove and coral reef restoration

Integrated coastal zone management

Sand banks and structural technologies

|-
| Freshwater

| Integrated watershed management

Transboundary water management

Changing water access and use practices to reduce/manage water demand

High-efficiency water-saving technology

Aquifer storage and recovery

|-
| Agriculture, fisheries and food

| Changing crop type and variety, improving seed quality

Water storage, irrigation and water management

Climate-smart agriculture

Early warning systems and use of climate information services

Fisheries management plans (e.g., seasonal closures, limited fishing licenses, livelihood diversification)

|-
| rowspan="2"| Urban systems

| Cities and settlements

| Flood protection measures and sea walls

sustainable land-use planning and regulation

Protecting urban green spaces, improving permeability, mangrove restoration in coastal cities

Planned relocation and migration

Disaster management and contingency planning

|-
| Key infrastructures

| Climate-resilient highways and power infrastructure

Relocating key infrastructure

|-
| colspan="2"| Health systems

| Reducing air pollution

Changing dietary patterns

|}

<div id="FAQ 10.3" class="h2-container"></div>

<span id="faq-10.3-how-are-indigenous-knowledge-and-local-knowledge-being-incorporated-in-the-design-and-implementation-of-adaptation-projects-and-policies-in-asia"></span>