Climate Change Adaptation Strategies will be at the heart of transition planning

Climate change adaptation strategies will be at the heart of transition planning, which will be a hot topic this year.

Why Climate Adaptation Matters 

While the consequences of climate change¹ have been more apparent in the past decade, the predominant response from governments, societies and companies was to look at “turning off the tap”, i.e. to reduce the release of man-made greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) mainly coming from the consumption of fossil fuels for energy and industrial processes. 

There are many vectors of change involved to accomplish this, for example:

1. Transport could transition using electrification,
2. power generation could shift to renewables, while 
3. financial institutions could invest in, or finance companies carrying projects enabling emission reductions. 

According to leading scenario narratives, the extent to which those transformations happen will drive which shared socioeconomic pathway is being walked, and hence the temperature outcome most likely to be achieved. 

Aiming for climate mitigation is grounded in optimism: the common hope is that the impact to our livelihood can be preserved through technological progress and using market forces for good. 

However, mitigation alone will not suffice. As local and global average temperatures continue to rise, relying solely on stabilising the amount of greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere is increasingly unrealistic. Communities must also build resilience. Therefore, it is crucial to consider a complementary approach: climate adaptation.

What is ‘climate adaptation’? 

It is defined as taking action to prepare for and adjust to the current and projected impacts of climate change [1]. Individuals and communities can reduce their vulnerability and increase their resilience towards the more frequent and intense extreme weather events through ‘adaptation’.

Basic human survival needs are food (including water), shelter and access to energy; successful climate adaptation ensures that after its measures are in place, communities and individuals have access to the fulfilment of their needs. As such, climate change adaptation aims to address impacts on food security and water usage, buildings resilience and infrastructure.

• Floods, wildfires and drought can put a strain on ensuring the availability of sufficient food. According to this WEF article [2] food security can be improved through:
  ‍
  • sustainable agriculture practices (for example water optimisation, diversity of cultivated crops and animals) and supporting technologies that monitor the soil health, and other key indicators,
  • robust storage facilities,
  • production of climate-resilient livestock,
  • early warming and other systems to reduce agricultural losses, 
  • educating and informing to avoid food loss,
  • promotion of local food sourcing and purchasing to boost nutrition, and environmental sustainability, and lastly, 
  • fostering international cooperation for better equity.

• Access to energy can be disrupted due to climate acute events, there are however ways for the access to be maintained through preparation and readiness [3]:
  ‍
  • Decentralised clean energy solutions allow communities in remote areas, or after severe events to access energy without depending on the central grid.
  • Multi-functional clean energy solutions that can deliver several adaptation benefits. Agrivoltaics for instance, where the solar panels installed in fields protect the crops from overheating, while generating power, which can be used for irrigation. 

• Infrastructure is also at the forefront of adaptation concerns. Nation-wide strategy defines objectives to deliver – for New Zealand these are [4]:
  ‍
  • Reducing the vulnerability of assets exposed to climate change
  • Ensure all new infrastructure is fit for a changing climate
  • Use renewal programmes to improve adaptive capacity.

The role of financial institutions in climate adaptation.

These initiatives can be carried out with the support from financial services [5]: 

• Inclusive finance supporting vulnerable communities has a role to play to developing individual and collective climate resilience, withstanding climate shocks.
• Insurance is an important financial service to protect people and institutions against natural disasters; however, as impacts become more frequent and more severe, the insurance cover could be strained, translating to increased premiums or reduced cover.
• Investments could cover not only climate mitigation technologies and products, but also climate adaptation. There is still a gap to cover though as climate adaptation is more difficult to measure and quantify than prevented emissions. 

Having a two-pronged approach against climate change with climate mitigation and climate adaptation will yield a better outcome than if only one of these strategies was followed and offers the right balance between optimism and acceptance. 

Footnote: 1 Climate change manifests itself in the pattern changes seen in the severity and frequency of extreme weather events and the long-term changes of sea-level rise, temperature and humidity.

Sources: 

[1] https://gca.org/what-is-climate-adaptation

[2] https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2023/09/7-ways-to-boost-food-security-in-the-face-of-climate-change/  

[3] https://gca.org/three-ways-that-clean-energy-innovation-and-climate-change-adaptation-can-work-in-lockstep/ 

[4] https://www.nzta.govt.nz/roads-and-rail/highways-information-portal/technical-disciplines/environment-and-sustainability-in-our-operations/environmental-technical-areas/climate-change/climate-change-adaptation/ 

[5] https://www.findevgateway.org/collections/climate-change-and-financial-inclusion