Climate Adaptation Planning – An Overview

As the impacts of climate change are now being experienced across the globe, so the scale of the adaptation challenge is becoming increasingly apparent. Over the last decade, almost every nation has begun the process of adaptation planning in some form. At a national level, many countries now have National Adaptation Strategies or National Adaptation Plans. These often inform, and are informed by, sub-national adaptation planning processes which are usually tailored to the governance structure of the country and the different tiers of government which may exist. The number of sectoral adaptation plans has also grown considerably, as countries better understand the distinct challenges of adapting to climate change. The growing demand for adaptation planning has generated a burgeoning academic literature, but also an exponential growth in practical guidance, tools and resources aimed at those tasked with developing adaptation plans. While climate adaptation is inherently context specific, it is clear that a number of key principles for good adaptation planning can be identified which can be of considerable value to those beginning this process. More specifically, the framing of adaptation as a cycle is extremely valuable for those trying to interpret national level approaches in a sub-national context. This approach emphasises adaptation planning as a continual process, rather than an end goal, which is especially important as we continue to experience worsening climate change impacts, including multiple interacting impacts in increasingly dynamic social and economic contexts. The purpose of this briefing note is to consider and compare the more practical literature on adaptation in order to reflect on how the process of adaptation planning has been conceptualised, and to identify lessons from this continually evolving field which can be used as China begins to strengthen adaptation at the sub-national level. We focus particularly on experiences from Europe and Germany, however it should be noted that many of the key concepts are consistently used globally, and have proven to be useful in a multitude of contexts.