Editing IPCC:AR6/WGII/Chapter-17 (section)

==== 17.4.5.2 Windows of Opportunity ====

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Windows of opportunity are time-bounded periods during which conditions are present for advancing and often accelerating climate adaptation strategies. They can act as significant catalysing conditions for climate action and are connected to a range of possible outcomes from small incremental shifts to larger-scale more profound transformation adaptations ( [[#Novalia--2020|Novalia and Malekpour, 2020]] ).

Windows can open because of extreme weather events ( [[#Birkmann--2008|Birkmann and Fernando, 2008]] ), political shifts, such as new institutions, new laws and regulations, and presence of a new policy entrepreneur or new policies ( [[#Haasnoot--2013|Haasnoot et al., 2013]] ; [[#Bell--2015|Bell and Morrison, 2015]] ), relevant and achievable policy goals, and emergence of new knowledge ( [[#Abunnasr--2013|Abunnasr et al., 2013]] ), and close after the initial causes recede and become less efficacious. They also serve as focusing events whereby a coalition of groups address specific policy questions or response options ( [[#Rudel--2019|Rudel, 2019]] ). Recognising that windows of opportunity often catalyse action does not mean that action outside such windows is insignificant or impossible.

Extreme events such as disasters often act as proximate drivers of windows of opportunity ( [[#Birkmann--2008|Birkmann and Fernando, 2008]] ; [[#McSweeney--2011|McSweeney and Coomes, 2011]] ). Climate disasters in a specific location become significant windows for new debate, policymaking and financing ( [[#McSweeney--2011|McSweeney and Coomes, 2011]] ). Extreme events also can facilitate change at locations distant from the most impacted site when remote actors gain perspective on their own risks ( [[#Friedman--2019|Friedman et al., 2019]] ; [[#Solecki--2019|Solecki et al., 2019]] ). Factors that facilitate extreme events driving proactive as opposed to reactive responses include access to relevant risk and vulnerability data, pre-existing experience with similar events, and appropriate governance ( [[#Brown--2017a|Brown et al., 2017a]] ). [[#Page--2020|Page and Dilling (2020)]] find that worldview or ideology plays a central role in sense-making and in shaping what organisational decision makers ‘see’ in terms of acceptable actions in response to an extreme event.

Significant variation is present across the mix and intensity of conditions that promote action through a window of opportunity. Capacity to respond to is a function of the presence of enabling conditions as well as tools and methods to aid decision-making (Shi et al., 2015). Political activism provides windows of opportunity for climate adaptation ( [[#Lauer--2016|Lauer and Eguavoen, 2016]] ; see also [[#17.4.5.3|Section 17.4.5.3.1]] ).

Sudden shifts in institutions and legal framework can also catalyse climate action. For example, the year 2015 included a series of international frameworks such as the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030 ( [[#van%20Niekerk--2020|van Niekerk et al., 2020]] ; [[#Hofmann--2021|Hofmann, 2021]] ), the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which established the Sustainable Development Goals ( [[#Sanchez%20Rodriguez--2018|Sanchez Rodriguez et al., 2018]] ), and the Paris Climate Agreement, which dramatically enhanced the promotion and implementation of altered the conditions under which climate adaptation occurred.

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