Adaptation has become a strategic negotiation issue only recently, although UNFCCC (1992) already referred to it in Art. 2 and Art. 4. Among other things, the difficulty of implementing national and international mitigation policies and the increasing awareness of climate inertia eventually put adaptation under the spotlight of science and policy. The EU has recently released the “Green Paper on Adaptation” (see EU, 2007) and many EU countries have prepared and started to implement national adaptation plans. The Bali action plan (2008) has identified the need for enhanced adaptation action by Parties of the Convention, and adaptation is among the five key building blocks for a strengthened response to climate change. COP 13 has established the Adaptation Fund Board with the role of managing the Adaptation Fund, established at COP7. COP14 at Poznan (2009) also made some progress on a number of important issues concerning adaptation.
Indeed, the ultimate question policy makers are interested in is how to reduce the climate change vulnerability of socio-economic systems in the most cost-effective way. This can be done both through mitigation and adaptation. But this requires on the one hand a thorough knowledge of the size and the regional distribution of damages, and on the other hand a precise assessment of the cost/effectiveness of alternative policies and of their strategic complementarity or trade-off.
An extended literature has investigated the different dimensions of mitigation strategies, whereas much less can be found on adaptation. Even less on the interactions between adaptation and mitigation. The recent increasing emphasis on adaptation thus raises a set of still unanswered questions concerning the design of an optimal mix of mitigation and adaptation measures. And the cost-benefit ratio of different adaptation/mitigation options. New relevant insights need to be provided on the optimal resource allocation between mitigation and adaptation. Or on the optimal timing of mitigation and adaptation measures. Or on the marginal contribution to reducing vulnerability of market and policy driven adaptation strategies.
CONTENTS
Abstract
Copenhagen Consensus on Climate
Introduction
Background concepts
Defining adaptation: a multidimensional concept
Mitigation and adaptation as a single integrated policy process
Adaptation strategies and macro, policy-driven, integrated measures
- 5.1. Optimal integrated climate-change strategy in a non cooperative setting
5.2. An optimal integrated climate-change strategy in a cooperative scenario
5.3. Unraveling the optimal adaptation strategy mix 5.4. Regional analysis
A comparison with the existing modelling literature
Assessing the role of market driven adaptation
Re-examining policy-driven adaptation: The effects of including market-adjustments
Specific adaptation strategies: insights from the existing literature
Conclusions and Policy Implications
Appendix I : The AD-WITCH model
Appendix II: Estimating market-driven adaptation with the ICES model
Appendix III: An alternative formulation of adaptation
References
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An Analysis of Adaptation as a Response to Climate Change
