Can we adapt to all current and future climate impacts?

This briefing paper has also been published individually as a webpage: Can we adapt to all current and future climate impacts?

Author: Dr Emily Theokritoff
Reviewer: Dr Joyce Kimutai

Media enquiries: grantham.media@imperial.ac.uk  
Policy enquiries: j.bird@imperial.ac.uk    

If our greenhouse gas emission reduction goals appear too challenging, there may increasingly be a temptation to give up on mitigation and focus solely on climate change adaptation (which refers to measures that aim to reduce harms from current and future climate). Particularly for climate change impacts like sea level rise that we know have already been locked in for decades to come, it can seem unappealing to invest in mitigation if the benefits of it will not be felt in the short-term. 

However, the existence of limits to adaptation—points beyond which adaptation is no longer possible and unavoidable losses and damages occur—makes a strong case against this argument. With intensifying global warming, limits to adaptation are increasingly being reached in both human and natural systems and result in further devastating losses and damages across the world. 

This background briefing explores the softs and hard limits to climate adaptation and what happens when those limits are reached.

Key points 

• Limits to adaptation exist; some are already being experienced and others will increasingly be reached in the future if stringent emissions reductions and concerted adaptation efforts are not delivered.  
• Adaptation, mitigation and losses and damages must be equally addressed and in parallel to ensure a safe and just future for all. 
• Information on limits to adaptation should be included in adaptation plans to support effectiveness of measures in the long-term.