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Adaptation options

Author: Rijkswaterstaat/Jurriaan Brobbel; Source: www.flickr.com/photos/zandmotor - CC licensing

Image credits: Rijkswaterstaat/Jurriaan Brobbel on flickr

Adaptation options are strategies and measures that are available and appropriate for addressing climate change adaptation (IPCC, AR6).

Adaptation options range from actions that build adaptive capacity (e.g. knowledge creation and sharing of information, creating supportive institutional frameworks) or establish management systems and supportive mechanisms (e.g. better land management planning, insurance mechanisms) to adaptation actions implemented on the ground, e.g. physical or ecosystem-based measures. Climate-ADAPT adaptation options are categorised according to Key Type Measures (KTM), a system used to report climate adaptation actions in the EEA member countries, as part of the Energy Union Governance Regulation (EU, 2018). It was developed to provide a standardised way of communicating various adaptation measures to better support adaptation policy process across the EU.  

Climate-ADAPT adaptation options are also categorised according to the IPCC system, in order to strengthen global engagement and exchanges on adaptation, as required by the 2021 European Adaptation Strategy. The IPCC AR5 categorisation system (see Chapter 14: Adaptation needs and options) is the most globally recognised system to cluster adaptation options. It identifies three main categories (structural and physical options, social options and institutional options), further divided in sub-categories. Other developing approaches to adaptation options, considering “Representative Key Risks” and “System Transitions” can be found in the IPCC AR6 (see Chapter 17: Decision Making Options for Managing Risk).

Explore below the Climate-ADAPT catalogue of adaptation options by selecting a specific climate impact, an adaptation sector and a KTM/IPCC category. To learn from practical experiences, also navigate across Climate-ADAPT case studies, where adaptation options are implemented in diverse locations across Europe.

You can also access adaptation options navigating across the Climate-ADAPT database.

Moreover, the third step of the Adaptation Support Tool assists national and subnational authorities to identify, compare and prioritise adaptation options.

The efforts and costs for the maintenance of the adaptation options are not yet systematically reported for all Climate-ADAPT adaptation options. Alongside with the implementation of the adaptation measures, the efforts and costs for their maintenance should be carefully considered for an effective long-term adaptation process. However, information on efforts and costs of measures are reported in some case studies that inform on practical experiences on the implementation of those measures.

The implementation of measures must be coordinated at the proper spatial scale, fit to the specific local context and compliant with national and subnational regulations and plans. Even though implemented at the local scale, adaptation options often require coordination with higher levels of governance to ensure sustainable and harmonised spatial planning of the whole region. Inspirational case studies on the collaboration with higher levels of governance are available on Climate-ADAPT.

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Explore adaptation options

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