Adaptation 101

Adaptation to climate change is not a new trend for humankind. The history of humankind’s adaptation to its climate can be traced back to the spark of civilization. It is from survival instinct that humans naturally developed different techniques and lifestyles in order to survive through environments from hot-humid-tropical to icy-windy-polar and populate the world. In the last two decades, however, climate activities have been interrupted by human development activities to such a degree that climate activities have become more unpredictable and extreme. To adapt to extreme weather events; such as more frequent floods and droughts, and more power hurricanes, humankind needs both great wisdom as well as international cooperation in tailoring new adaptation plans based on various abnormal climate activity scenarios.

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)’s 3^rd Assessment Report, adaptation is defined as “the ability of a system to adjust to climate change (including climate variability and extremes) to moderate potential damages, to take advantage of opportunities, or to cope with the consequences.” [1] In response to varying types of potential climate disasters, there are also varying adaptation categories.

Categorized by timeline, there are:

·   Anticipatory (Proactive) Adaptation: adaptation that takes place before actual climate change impacts occur. Such adaptation is a preemptive measure to prevent or to minimize potential climate change impacts.

·   Reactive adaptation: Adaptation that takes place after impacts of climate change have been observed.

Categorized by purpose, there are:

• Autonomous Adaptation: Adaptation that does not constitute a conscious response to climatic stimuli but is instead triggered by ecological changes in natural systems and by market or welfare changes in human systems. Such adaptation is also referred to as spontaneous adaptation.
• Planned Adaptation: Adaptation that is the result of a deliberate policy decision, based on an awareness that conditions have changed or are about to change and that action is required to return to, maintain, or achieve a desired state.

Categorized by actors/implementations,

• Private Adaptation: Adaptation that is initiated and implemented by individuals, households or private companies. Private adaptation is usually in the actor's rational self-interest.
• Public Adaptation: Adaptation that is initiated and implemented by governments at all levels. Public adaptation is usually directed by collective needs.[2]

A successful adaptation plan normally presents an involvement of different adaptation styles, which are based on the needs of local ecosystems. China, for example, has several unique ecosystems within its territories and thus has tremendously different climate change impacts from ecosystem to ecosystem: the Northern China Plain tends to have frequent droughts while the Southern China Plain tends to have floods and is threatened by rising sea levels. As a result, water resource management in China requires different strategies targeting the North and the South. For the North, the government focuses on water allocation, water-saving and sea water utilization. For the South, the Chinese government is building up the capacity for monitoring and early warning about floods and rising sea levels. The case of China’s water resource management demonstrates a balance of anticipatory adaptation (ie. to prevent sea level rise) and reactive adaptation (ie. to minimize the impacts of droughts and floods).[3]

To the international community, adaptation has been a crucial issue as well. In the last Conference of Parties (COP15) in Copenhagen, adaptation financing for vulnerable developing countries was considered as one of the hottest topics during negotiations. The resolution of COP15, the Copenhagen Accord, emphasized the importance in “establish[ing] a comprehensive adaptation programme including international support”. Such a programme required commitment by developed countries to raise $100 billion a year by 2020 as part of the new multilateral funding for adaptation.[4]

In the case of adaptation, the international community’s support is critical, especially to developing countries that are more vulnerable to climate change impacts. In reality, it is not just those countries most vulnerable to climate change that should deal with adaptation. No country in the world can avoid the transboundary impacts of climate change, and no country should withhold contributions to climate change adaption. After all, climate change is a dilemma faced by all humankind, and it needs to be solved through the cooperation of all. 

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