'Adaptability-enhancing approach' for climate change adaptation

Abstract

Planning for and taking action with a view to climate change adaptation are important social and political issues at national and regional scales. Climate change adaptation typically involves a consideration of measures that address recognised problems and maintain the performance of ecological and social systems, such as crop yield or health risks, under projected future environmental conditions. However, these 'optimisation' approaches are vulnerable to unpredictable events. This opinion paper describes the 'adaptability-enhancing' approach to climate change adaptation. The adaptability-enhancing approach is effective under sudden environmental fluctuations and future uncertainties. This approach is achieved by increasing the change capacity, response capacity, and resilience of the ecological or social system. These concepts are explained in detail and effective measures for enhancing adaptability are discussed in the context of real-world examples.