1.4 Climate change adaptation

Climate change is gradually altering average temperature, sea level, and the timing and amount of precipitation, with potential for more drastic changes if carbon emissions are not successfully limited and reduced. Climate change also contributes to more frequent, severe and unpredictable weather-related hazards such as droughts, tropical cyclones, floods and heat waves (IPCC, 2007). Therefore, climate change adaptation can be understood as: (a) adapting to gradual changes in average temperature, sea level and precipitation; and (b) reducing and managing the risks associated with more frequent, severe and unpredictable extreme weather events, including those for which there may be no historic precedent.

Adapting to gradual changes in climate averages is a medium- to long-term process, involving long-term planning of investments in strategic infrastructure that take into account changing climatic conditions. For example, new hydroelectric plants and urban drainage systems need to account for future changes in rainfall, and investments in both urban and agricultural development need to take into account expected changes in water availability and rising sea levels.

However, the degree to which any society is adapted to its climate is socially constructed rather than environmentally determined (Berger and Luckmann, 1966). Countries that may find it most difficult to adapt are likely to have fewer resources to invest in new infrastructure and technologies, have limited social protection systems in place, and experience food insecurity, high vulnerability to disasters and extreme trade limitations (Corrales, 2010).

As Box 1.4 highlights, it is worth remembering that until the 19th century, much of the population of pre-industrial Europe was maladapted to its climate, and as a result, suffered devastating famines. It was only with the technological and material changes that accompanied the industrial revolution that Europe became adapted.


In the short term, however, climate risk will be shaped by existing risk patterns and increasing exposure of people and their assets, as much as by climate change itself (ECA, 2009). From that perspective, the contemporary tendency to characterize weather-related disasters as manifestations of climate change underplays the role of the underlying risk drivers, and may point policy and planning in the wrong direction.

As with disaster risk management in general, the challenge of adapting to climate extremes requires increased attention to underlying risk drivers, reducing vulnerability, and strengthening risk governance capacities. If disaster risks can be reduced, then the magnifying effect of climate change will also be reduced and adaptation facilitated.