A critical look at the state of climate adaptation planning

Adaptation is rapidly becoming a mainstream policy response for addressing biophysical and social vulnerabilities to climate change, yet there are few systems in place for tracking progress toward adaptation goals. A general framework and associated criteria for the evaluation of adaptation planning was developed, based upon the existing adaptation planning literature. Applying this framework to a suite of 57 adaptation plans from Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States revealed that many institutions have fallen short in articulating a robust strategy for adapting to climate change. Therefore, while the rapid proliferation of adaptation planning shows that the learning process for addressing climate risk is underway, significant progress will need to be made in the future if adaptation is to be placed on a sound policy foundation. Such progress may be facilitated through expansion of adaptation as both a scientific discipline and a sector of professional practice.