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Frontiers in Climate Change Adaptation Science: Advancing Guidelines to Design Adaptation Pathways

  • Progress in the Solution Space of Climate Adaptation (E Gilmore, Section Editor)
  • Published:
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Abstract

Purpose of Review

This paper discusses three scientific frontiers that need to be advanced in order to support decision-makers and practitioners in charge of operational decisions and action on the design and implementation of concrete adaptation policies and actions. These frontiers refer to going beyond the (1) incremental vs. transformational and (2) maladaptation vs. adaptation dichotomies and to advancing knowledge on (3) adaptation measures’ effectiveness and roles in designing context-specific adaptation pathways.

Recent Findings

Dealing with adaptation to climate change on the ground often means answering three obvious but critical questions: what to do, where and when? These questions challenge the scientific community’s capacity to link conceptual advances (e.g. on transformative adaptation) and ground-rooted needs across sectors and regions (on solutions, governance arrangements, etc.).

Summary

We argue that the three abovementioned frontiers represent the most burning challenges to the Adaptation Science community to help addressing climate-related societal needs. We also demonstrate that they are intertwined as moving one frontier forward will facilitate moving the others forward.

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Notes

  1. In the IPCC language, high means “significant and widespread” (e.g. [3]).

  2. That is, very high probability of severe impacts/risks and the presence of significant irreversibility or the persistence of climate-related hazards (here, sea-level rise-related), possibly combined with the reaching of some adaptation limits.

  3. That is, detectable and partly attributable to climate change (here, sea-level rise) with at least medium confidence.

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Funding

This work was supported by the French National Research Agency under the STORISK project (No. ANR-15-CE03- 0003). VKED was also funded by the INSeaPTION project, which is part of ERA4CS, an ERA-NET initiated by JPI Climate, and funded by FORMAS (SE), BMBF (DE), BMWFW (AT), IFD (DK), MINECO (ES), ANR (FR) with co-funding by the European Union (Grant 690462). AKM was also supported by the ANR programme “Investissements d’avenir” (No. ANR-10-LABX-14-01) and Ademe (Convention 20ESC0016)

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. LIENSs, La Rochelle University & CNRS, La Rochelle, France

    Alexandre K. Magnan & Virginie K. E. Duvat

  2. IDDRI, Sciences Po, 27 rue Saint-Guillaume, 75007, Paris, France

    Alexandre K. Magnan

  3. Environmental Change Institute, Oxford University Centre for the Environment, South Parks Road, Oxford, UK

    E. Lisa F. Schipper

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  1. Alexandre K. Magnan
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Correspondence to Alexandre K. Magnan.

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Magnan, A.K., Schipper, E.L.F. & Duvat, V.K.E. Frontiers in Climate Change Adaptation Science: Advancing Guidelines to Design Adaptation Pathways. Curr Clim Change Rep 6, 166–177 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40641-020-00166-8

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