Editing IPCC:AR6/WGII/Chapter-18 (section)

== Frequently Asked Questions ==

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=== FAQ 18.1 | What is a climate resilient development pathway? ===

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A pathway is defined in IPCC reports as a temporal evolution of natural and/or human systems towards a future state. Pathways can range from sets of scenarios or narratives of potential futures to solution-oriented decision-making processes to achieve desirable societal goals. Climate resilient development pathways (CRDPs) are therefore trajectories for the pursuit of climate resilient development (CRD) and navigating its complexities. They involve ongoing processes that strengthen sustainable development, eradicate poverty and reduce inequalities while promoting fair adaptation and mitigation across multiple scales. As the pursuit of CRDPs is contingent on achieving larger-scale societal transformation, CRDPs invariably raise questions of ethics, equity and feasibility of options to drastically reduce emission of greenhouse gasses (mitigation) that limit global warming (e.g., to well below 2°C) and achieve desirable and liveable futures and well-being for all.

There in no one, correct pathway for CRD, but rather multiple pathways depending on factors such as the political, cultural and economic contexts in which different actors find themselves. Some development pathways are more consistent with CRD, while others move society away from CRD. Moreover, CRDPs are not one single decision or action. Rather, CRDPs represent a continuum of coherent, consistent decisions, actions and interventions that evolve within individual communities, nations, and the world. Different actors, the private sector, and civil society, influenced by science, local and Indigenous knowledges, and the media play a role in designing and navigating CRD pathways.

While dependent on past patterns of development and their socio-ethical, political, economic, ecological and knowledge-technology outcomes at any point in time, transformation, ecological tipping points and shocks can create sudden shifts and unexpected nonlinear development pathways. Actions taken today can enable or foreclose some future potential CRDPs. The differentiated impacts of hurricanes and COVID-19 on nations and communities around the world illustrate how the character of societal development such as equity and inclusion have enabled some societies to be more resilient than others.

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<span id="faq-18.2-what-is-climate-resilient-development-and-how-can-climate-change-adaptation-measures-contribute-to-achieving-this"></span>
=== FAQ 18.2 | What is climate resilient development and how can climate change adaptation (measures) contribute to achieving this? ===

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Climate resilient development (CRD) is a process of implementing greenhouse gas mitigation and adaptation options to support sustainable development for all in ways that support human and planetary health and well-being, equity and justice. CRD combines adaptation and mitigation with underlying development choices and everyday actions, carried out by multiple actors within political, economic, ecological, socio-ethical and knowledge-technology arenas. The character of processes within these development arenas are intrinsic to how social choices are made and they determine whether development moves society along pathways toward CRD or away. For example, inclusion, agency and social justice are qualities within the political arena that underpin actions that enable CRD.

CRD addresses the relationship between GHG emissions, levels of warming and related climate risks. However, CRD involves more than just achieving temperature targets. It considers the possible transitions that enable those targets to be achieved as well as the evaluation of different adaptation strategies and how the implementation of these strategies interact with broader sustainable development efforts and objectives. This interdependence between patterns of development, climate risk and the demand for mitigation and adaptation action is fundamental to the concept of CRD. Therefore, climate change and sustainable development cannot be assessed or planned in isolation of one another.

Hence, CRD represents development that deliberately adopts mitigation and adaptation measures to secure a safe climate on earth, meet basic needs for each human being, eliminate poverty and enable equitable, just and sustainable development. It halts practices causing dangerous levels of global warming. CRD may involve deep societal transformation to ensure well-being for all. CRD is now emerging as one of the guiding principles for climate policy, both at the international level, reflected in the Paris Agreement (UNFCCC, 2015), and within specific countries.

[[File:47e933921143e9593186796f52d69ee4 IPCC_AR6_WGII_Figure_18_FAQ_18_2_1.png]]

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=== FAQ 18.3 | How can different actors across society and levels of government be empowered to pursue climate resilient development? ===

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CRD entails trade-offs between different policy objectives. Governments as well as political and economic elites may play a key role in defining the direction of development at a national and sub-national scale; but in practice, these pathways can be influenced and even resisted by local people, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and civil society.

Given such tensions, contestation and debate are inherent to the definition and pursuit of CRD. An active civil society and citizenship create the enabling conditions for deliberation, protest, dissent and pressure, which are fundamental for an inclusive participatory process. These enable a multiplicity of actors to engage across multiple arenas including governmental, economic and financial, political, knowledge, science &amp; technology, and community. Decisions and actions may be influenced by uneven interactions among actors, including socio-political relations of domination, marginalisation, contestation, compliance and resistance, with diverse and often unpredictable outcomes.

In this way, recent social movements and climate protests reflect new modalities of action in response to social, economic, and political inaction. The new climate movement, led mostly by youth, seeks science-based policy and, more importantly, rejects a reformist stance toward climate action in favour of radical climate action. This is mostly pursued through collective disruptive action and non-violent resistance to promote awareness, a regenerative culture and ethics of care. These movements have resulted in notable political successes, such as declarations of climate emergency at the national and local level, as well as in universities. Also, their methods have proven effective to end fossil fuel sponsorship.

The success and importance of recent climate movements also suggest a need to rethink the role of science in society. On one hand, the new climate movements demanding political action were prompted by the findings of scientific reports, mainly the [[#IPCC--2018a|IPCC (2018a)]] and [[#IPBES--2019|IPBES (2019)]] reports. On the other hand, these movements have increased public awareness and stimulated public engagement with climate change at unprecedented levels beyond what the scientific community can do alone.

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=== FAQ 18.4 | What role do transitions and transformations in energy, urban and infrastructure, industrial, land and ocean ecosystems, and in society, play in climate resilient development? ===

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The IPCC SR1.5 report identified transitions in four key systems, including energy, land and ocean ecosystems, urban and infrastructure, and industry, as being fundamental to the pursuit of CRD. In addition, this report identifies societal transitions, in terms of values and worldviews that shape aspirations, lifestyles and consumption patterns, as another key component of CRD. Acknowledging societal transitions has implications for how one assesses options and values different outcomes from the perspectives of ethics, equity, justice and inclusion. Collectively, these system transitions can widen the solution space and accelerate and deepen the implementation of sustainable development, adaptation, and mitigation actions by equipping actors and decision-makers with more effective and more equitable options. However, the way they are pursued may not necessarily be perceived as ethical or desirable to all actors. Moreover, system transitions are necessary precursors for more fundamental climate and sustainable-development transformations. Yet, these transitions can themselves be outcomes of transformative actions.

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=== FAQ 18.5 | What are success criteria in climate resilient development and how can actors satisfy those criteria? ===

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CRD is not a predefined goal to be achieved at a certain point or stage in the future. It is a constant process of evaluating, valuing, acting and adjusting various options for mitigation, adaptation and sustainable development, shaped by societal values as well as contestations of those values. Any achievement or success is always a work in progress driven by with continuous, directed, intentional actions. These actions will vary according to the priorities and needs of each population or system; therefore, specific criteria for, and indicators of, CRD will vary according to each specific context. This respect for context ensures the pursuit of CRD prioritizes people, planet, prosperity, peace and partnership, per the broad goals of the Agenda 2030 on sustainable development.

If CRD is defined as a process of implementing greenhouse gas mitigation and adaptation options to support sustainable development for all, this implies various potential criteria for success. These include the adoption of mitigation and adaptation measures to secure a safe climate, meet basic needs, eliminate poverty and enable equitable, just and sustainable development for all. Therefore, the 17 United Nations’ SDGs provide a good (although limited) measure of progress toward CRD. The SDGs aim at ending poverty and hunger globally and protect life on land and underwater until the year 2030. Although there are proven synergies between the SDGs and mitigation, there remain synergies between the SDGs and adaptation that need to be explored further.

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