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

==== 17.5.2.5 Challenges of Assessing Adaptation ====

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To date, literature has largely focused on aspects prior to implementation such as assessments of climate vulnerability and risks or appraisals of adaptation options ( [[#Sietsma--2021|Sietsma et al., 2021]] ; Cross-Chapter Box Adaptation). To understand adaptation progress, the assessment of implemented adaptation actions and their outcomes requires more attention ( ''very high confidence'' ) (Cross-Chapter Box PROGRESS in this Chapter).

Outcomes on risk reduction are typically expressed in ways that are specific to the respective sector or context (e.g., as agricultural yields, health benefits or reduced water stress) highlighting that ‘adaptation has no common reference metrics in the same way that tonnes of GHGs or radiative forcing values are for mitigation’ ( [[#IPCC--2014|IPCC, 2014]] : 856). Assessments of adaptation progress therefore need to specify what they are measuring and how they are measuring it. The way adaptation is conceptualised, for example as a continuum between successful adaptation and maladaptation ( [[#17.1.1|Section 17.1.1]] ), and the way adaptation is framed, for example as a technical challenge or a political process ( [[#Juhola--2011|Juhola et al., 2011]] ; [[#Bassett--2013|Bassett and Fogelman, 2013]] ; [[#Eriksen--2015|Eriksen et al., 2015]] ), shape the understanding of progress and its subsequent measurement ( [[#Singh--2021|Singh et al., 2021]] ).

Furthermore, people can be differently affected even in the same location owing to, among others, differential vulnerability among the population ( [[#Reckien--2019|Reckien and Petkova, 2019]] ; [[#Thomas--2019|Thomas et al., 2019]] ). Different views and values can also affect what it means to adapt ( [[#Few--2021|Few et al., 2021]] ). Assessments of adaptation progress therefore need to be transparent and reflective about how they define and measure adaptation and account for culturally and geographic contingent concepts of what it means to adapt in light of the global diversity of livelihoods and concepts.

The lack of knowledge on adaptation progress is associated with further measurement challenges, including that avoided impacts are difficult to measure and that risk levels change over time, meaning what is effective today may not be effective in the future ( [[#Brooks--2011|Brooks et al., 2011]] ; [[#Pringle--2011|Pringle, 2011]] ; [[#Spearman--2011|Spearman and McGray, 2011]] ; [[#Villanueva--2012|Villanueva, 2012]] ; [[#Bours--2014a|Bours et al., 2014a]] ). Moreover, adaptation is embedded in complex political and social realities where power and politics shape outcomes and where simplistic views of how adaptation would take place may be ill-conceived ( [[#Nightingale--2017|Nightingale, 2017]] ; [[#Mikulewicz--2018|Mikulewicz, 2018]] ; [[#Mikulewicz--2020|Mikulewicz, 2020]] ). In practice, this means that theories of change of adaptation projects may miss important causes of risks and could subsequently lead to inaccurate assessments ( [[#Forsyth--2018|Forsyth, 2018]] ). Measuring adaptation is therefore a matter of understanding drivers of vulnerability and risk and of designing responses and M&amp;E systems accordingly ( [[#UNFCCC--2019a|UNFCCC, 2019a]] , section V).

The importance of context and the dependence on viewpoints make comparative assessments of adaptation across nations, regions or responses challenging. Comparison requires a consistent conceptualisation of adaptation, comparable units of analysis and access to relevant data sets ( [[#Ford--2015|Ford et al., 2015]] ; [[#Ford--2016|Ford and Berrang-Ford, 2016]] ). Comparative adaptation policy assessments to date often lack clarity in concepts and explanatory variables ( [[#Dupuis--2013|Dupuis and Biesbroek, 2013]] ; Biesbroek R, 2018a). The trade-off between standardisation and context specificity also complicates attempts to aggregate adaptation progress across scales to the national or global level ( [[#Leiter--2018|Leiter and Pringle, 2018]] ; Cross-Chapter Box PROGRESS in this Chapter).

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