Why aren't we merely able to adjust to the climatic change?

One of the most important aspects of combating climate change is learning to adapt to the effects and hazards of living in a changing environment. It does not, however, take the place of the pressing need to cut emissions as well. In actuality, how well we are able to adapt to the effects of climate change depends on the amount and pace of emissions reductions. If emissions do not drop, it will be considerably more difficult, if not impossible, to adapt since the effects would manifest more quickly and at an ever-increasing scale.

Public involvement and policymaking are intricate processes. Utilizing a theoretical framework that is in line with the research topic allows for a methodical approach to the review and the identification of the essential themes. The degrees of public engagement and the types of knowledge are two crucial components of this study, and this framework illustrates all phases of the climate policy cycle and their relationships with them (Fig. 1). The principles of public participation and engagement, policy cycle, and knowledge types are presented first because the theoretical framework is centered on these two components and their interaction with the stages of the climate policy cycle, particularly with regard to policy instruments to improve climate adaptation action.

Effective adaptation will aid individuals, organisations, communities, and nations in coping with both the immediate and long-term effects of climate change. The economy and human livelihoods can be less severely damaged by actions like flood protection, land use adjustments, and building design.

We will reap the benefits of prevented damages faster if we implement appropriate actions as soon as possible. Extreme events will become more often and more intense as global warming progresses, with increasing detrimental effects on food security, the environment, cities, and employment. This can raise the danger of permanent loss that is difficult to adapt to, like the species extinction and submersion of low-lying islands or towns owing to sea level rise. It also implies that more adaptation is necessary, at a larger cost.

Since they heavily depend on the amount of potential greenhouse gas emissions, how well the climate system will react to them in various regions, and if they are successful, calculations of the precise future liabilities of adaptation generate a variety of outcomes. This makes it exceedingly challenging to anticipate the economic costs and benefits of adaptation. But it is obvious that adaptation would be very expensive if no action was taken to halt climate change.

Limiting the harm that climate change influences on human civilization will cause requires investing in adaptation. To be effective, a plan must reduce emissions to prevent further warming and adapt to the effects of climate change that cannot be prevented. Even the most comprehensive adaptation strategies, according to the Global Commission on Adaptation, won't shield us from all of the effects of climate change. Decreased emissions are thus "the greatest form of adaptation."

References

IPCC. (2018):?Summary for Policymakers. In: Global warming of 1.5°C. An IPCC Special Report on the impacts of global warming of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels and related global greenhouse gas emission pathways, in the context of strengthening the global response to the threat of climate change, sustainable development, and efforts to eradicate poverty?[Masson-Delmotte, V. et al (eds)].?World Meteorological Organization, Geneva, Switzerland, 32 pp

World Bank. (2010).?Economics of Adaptation to Climate Change: Synthesis Report. Washington, DC: World Bank.?

Fankhauser, S. (2010). The costs of adaptation,?Wiley Interdisciplinary Review Climate Change, 1(1): 23 - 30.

UNEP (2015).?The Adaptation Finance Gap Update. United Nations Environment Programme. Nairobi: Kenya.?

Global Commission on Adaptation (2019)?Adapt now: A global call for leadership on climate resilience.?Global Centre on Adaptation and World Resources Institute: 10.?

Khatibi, F.S., Dedekorkut-Howes, A., Howes, M. and Torabi, E. (2021). Can Public awareness, Knowledge and Engagement Improve Climate Change Adaptation policies? Discover Sustainability, [online] 2(1). doi:10.1007/s43621-021-00024-z.