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The Arctic is experiencing a rapid temperature increase, four times faster than lower-latitude regions, disproportionately affecting rural, coastal, and Indigenous communities. These areas confront multiple urgent climate challenges. Adaptation strategies encompass out-migration, community relocation, and enhancing resilience, yet research in this critical area is notably limited, particularly for the most vulnerable communities. This paper presents a comprehensive review of environmental stressors and contextual factors influencing migration decisions in the North American Arctic. While migration is primarily driven by job opportunities, education, healthcare, cultural, and infrastructural factors, factors such as family, culture, safety, subsistence life, and community ties strongly influence residents to stay. The study reveals a lack of clear evidence for climate-driven migration at the individual/household level, but it underscores well-documented community-level relocations. Two major challenges in studying Arctic climate migration are identified: the complexity of migration and the uniqueness of Arctic climate change. Recommendations include considering migration typology, disentangling climate drivers from contextual factors, and addressing data limitations through systematic collection, integration, and creative use of traditional and nontraditional data. The paper underscores the importance of establishing partnerships with local communities to achieve a holistic understanding of factors driving migration or immobility, ensuring research outcomes are connected to addressing community challenges. This review lays the groundwork for empirical research on Arctic migration and community adaptation, aiming to comprehend the challenges faced by these communities and explore potential solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Appeals to the importance of place are limited in the adaptation literature. While place has been acknowledged to contribute to individual and collective identity, its broader role representing meaningful connection between people and location has not been sufficiently developed or acknowledged in this literature, and is largely absent from key IPCC documents. As climate change disconnects people from their surroundings, it can compromise their sense of place. The loss of connection with one’s environs generates difficulties, not only in that under such conditions it is harder to find food, water, and shelter, but also in that under such conditions one is unable to recognize what choices and options are available. This paper contends that these choices and options are vital for human flourishing. Relying on the capabilities approach, according to which human flourishing should be understood not in terms of whether some state has been achieved, but whether an individual has the capacity to bring about certain chosen and endorsed states of being, this paper argues that place and place-making are central to human flourishing and should play a significant role in our adaptation strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper argues the need to situate the climate change narrative in lived everyday life for conceptualizing adaptation strategies. Climate change in its dominant narrative talks of global risks while it is the local risks experienced in everyday life which adaptation needs to address. This paper engages with this challenge using the specific case study of coffee growers in South India and focuses on two strategies available to them to address their rainfall risk: irrigation (sprinkler and rain-guns) and rainfall insurance. The paper unpacks growers’ decision-making process to invest or not to invest in insurance and irrigation and showcases that even though variation in rainfall is a significant concern for the growers still investing in neither of the two strategies (insurance and rain-gun irrigation) or only in sprinkler irrigation remains the most preferred decision scenarios. The paper argues that rain-gun irrigation and insurance reconfigure growers’ relation with rainfall. In this reconfigured relation, the agency is removed from growers and passed on to a scientifically calibrated assessment of rainfall. Growers’ reluctance to buy into these schemes, thus, is indicative of their reluctance to buy into the reconfigured system where the agency of knowledge has been removed from them and passed on to the scientific assessments. In a situated context, thus, climate change for coffee growers in South India is an issue of agency and trust. Therefore, thinking through adaptation strategies for addressing the situated narrative of climate change challenge would require opening the process of calibrating rainfall for insurance to gain growers’ trust. Additionally, making science more inclusive of lived experiences on the ground. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Africa is vulnerable to a diverse range of climate change hazards that have significant impacts on food security, biodiversity loss, water crises and prevalence of infectious diseases. With much of the continent’s population reliant on ecosystems to sustain their livelihoods, degradation of ecosystems caused by both climatic and non-climatic stressors is increasing vulnerability, reducing adaptation potential and limiting progress towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) presents a critical opportunity to address complex climate change vulnerabilities and mitigate greenhouse gas emissions across Africa. This study examines both the proposed extent of EbA actions across Africa and assesses alignment with existing research on EbA actions. A quantitative assessment of 52 Nationally Determined Contributions together with a review of available academic literature is undertaken. Results show that out of the 713 individual adaptation actions, 36.2% can be classified as EbA. The four sectors of agriculture, environment, forestry/land use and land use change, and water contribute ~ 82.5% of the total number of EbA actions identified across the continent. The meta-analysis revealed that 58% of EbA-focused research papers explicitly address or reference mitigation co-benefits. However, research on EbA actions focuses on mitigation and adaptation independently with little focus on integration of these outcomes. Understanding the current status of EbA and its integration of mitigation and adaptation provides a solid foundation for scaling up efforts to adapt to the current and impending impacts of climate change across Africa. Limited resources necessitate a structured and programmatic approach towards scaling up the implementation of EbA mitigation synergies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As socio-ecological systems undergo regional environmental change, there is a need to create adaptive governance that can manage uncertainty through the coordination of actors. Social capital can help overcome some of these challenges to facilitate a transition to adaptive governance, but social capital has often been treated as a catch-all phrase without offering strong theoretical or empirical contributions to how social processes influence governance outcomes. This paper addresses this gap by offering empirical insights into the conditions that activate individuals’ linking social capital to form new institutions to adapt to environmental change in two small-scale fishing communities in southern Chile. We used a mixed methods approach to examine the relationship between linking social capital and whether or not our individuals in our study adapted their diving practices or joined new organizations as a form of adaptation. We then use ethnography to illuminate the community-level factors and mechanisms that fostered the ability for individuals to use their linking social capital to transition governance and why a collaborative transition was successful in one community, but not the other. This paper suggests that leadership, shared visions, and a culture of cooperation underpin successful governance transitions, while intra-community conflict inhibits transitions even when linking social capital is present. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many coastal places around the UK face change, with impacts on communities, livelihoods, and landscapes. A tidal surge in 2013 caused significant erosion and flooding on the east coast of England (UK). This was the catalyst for the innovative Bacton to Walcott Coastal Management Scheme, also known as the Sandscaping Scheme, implemented in summer 2019. It is a one-off, large-scale beach nourishment scheme with a design prediction of 15–20 years functional life, the first of its kind in the UK and worldwide outside of the Netherlands. Through stakeholder interviews and a household questionnaire survey, this paper examines the institutional and political challenges, expectations, and hopes associated with this Scheme just before its implementation. The findings indicate that a combination of factors enabled technical and institutional experimentation and innovation at this location: critical erosion risk at a site of strategic infrastructure adjacent to two highly vulnerable villages, extensive stakeholder collaboration across scales, resolute leadership, and recognition of co-benefits. Although most interviewees and local residents foresaw significant benefit from the Scheme—not least respite from the deep anxiety caused by the threat of flooding and erosion risk—tensions were expressed around uncertainty beyond the Scheme’s lifetime and the need to start effective conversations about future adaptation options for the area. This study provides reflections for similar nature-based coastal management schemes elsewhere. It highlights the fundamental challenges facing the governance of natural and social coastal systems for adapting to current and future coastal change and the importance of articulating local and sometimes intangible understandings and expectations of adaptive coastal management interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The reality of global climate change demands novel approaches to science that are reflective of the scales at which changes are likely to occur, and of the new forms of knowledge required to positively influence policy to support vulnerable populations. We examine some of the opportunities and challenges presented by a collaborative, transdisciplinary research project on climate change adaptation in Africa and Asia that utilized a hotspot approach. A large-scale effort to develop appropriate baselines was a key challenge at the outset of the program, as was the need to develop innovative methodologies to enable researchers to work at appropriate spatial scales. Efforts to match research to the biophysical scales at which change occurs need to be aware of the mismatch that can develop between these regional scales and the governance scales at which decisions are made. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adapting to social and environmental change requires learning and governance that span ecological levels, political jurisdictions, and management challenges. Governance of these challenges is often comprised of public and private sector actors with overlapping jurisdictions that work together—termed polycentric governance. Polycentric governance systems have been found to improve adaptability through learning. In this paper, we compare how local organizations perceive a governance systems’ function and structure to help them learn and adapt to change. In our interviews with organization leaders in three north-central US states, we used expert elicitation to compare the degree to which the organizations’ partners help them experiment and learn to adapt to challenges. The challenges most frequently identified included social challenges like sharing knowledge and funding as well as ecological issues related to the resource. The associated polycentric governance systems’ structures varied by state. Independence and jurisdictional overlap—measures of polycentricity—differed by partner type, while consideration of partners’ best practices was similar for all partner types. Most partners were said to provide helpful information and respond to queries facilitating learning, but government partners were not always encouraging innovation or flexible implying less space for experimentation. We found that in each of the three states there is a mixture of actors at multiple scales partnering with the lake organizations at different frequencies and modes of interaction. We conclude that polycentric governance is beneficial for learning and experimentation, and that different structures may be beneficial to adapting within different contexts or problems definitions. The challenge for these systems is controlling areas of risk while providing flexibility to experiment and adapt to changing conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change is one of the greatest threats to biodiversity. Although it might adversely impact all of the world in varying magnitudes, tropical biodiversity is expected to be impacted the most. Central and South America (CSA) is among the most biodiverse regions in the world, housing several important areas for conservation due to high levels of diversity and endemism. Thus, because of its disproportionate tropical biodiversity, CSA might be severely vulnerable to climate change in the future. We performed a systematic review to assess how risk projections varied for different aspects of biodiversity in CSA, and the potential benefits of limiting climate change. We evaluated 71 scientific papers, amounting to > 3000 risk projections in the priority areas for conservation in CSA. CSA houses some of the most studied richspots in the world, with a strong bias towards the Atlantic Forest, Mesoamerica and Cerrado hotspots. Our results indicate that up to 85% of risk projections predict negative impacts, with 26% of projections predicting species extinctions. While high emissions scenarios indicate severe adverse impacts for biodiversity in CSA, noteworthy risk reduction arose from mitigation. Considering a climate change mitigation scenario in line with the Paris Agreement, risks for the region could be substantially reduced by over 80%. However, for endemic species, which are predicted to be the most impacted by climate change in CSA, mitigation alone will not suffice to minimize climatic risks. This highlights the urgent need of adaptation measures to increase the resilience of natural systems in the CSA to climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Small island developing states (SIDS) are among the most vulnerable in the world to the impacts of climate change. SIDS have prioritised adaptation to climate change as it is widely accepted that some climate change is inevitable. Given the high cost of adaptation and the financial constraints faced by SIDS, many have pursued international adaptation financing to meet adaptation costs and ease domestic constraints. This paper analyses international adaptation financing commitments to SIDS across multiple regions between 2010 and 2014. It has three aims. First, it identifies trends in this financing from Members of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development to SIDS. Second, using a multivariate regression model, it identifies the determinants of this financing to SIDS, compared to other developing countries. Third, it elicits the perspectives of policy-makers in SIDS on their experience with international adaptation financing to date. This study finds that (1) the allocation of funding and donor commitments to SIDS is highly skewed, (2) whether a country is classified as a SIDS is a determinant of the amount of adaptation financing it can expect to receive-other determinants include population, per capita income, governance quality and vulnerability, depending on how it is conceptualised and measured, and (3) SIDS are dissatisfied with the current levels of international adaptation financing and their experience with accessing it. This paper concludes that, while international adaptation flows have not been sufficient, SIDS have not been disadvantaged in their access to such financing over the period, compared to other developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Constraints and limits to adaptation are critical to understanding the extent to which human and natural systems can successfully adapt to climate change. We conduct a systematic review of 1,682 academic studies on human adaptation responses to identify patterns in constraints and limits to adaptation for different regions, sectors, hazards, adaptation response types, and actors. Using definitions of constraints and limits provided by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), we find that most literature identifies constraints to adaptation but that there is limited literature focused on limits to adaptation. Central and South America and Small Islands generally report greater constraints and both hard and soft limits to adaptation. Technological, infrastructural, and ecosystem-based adaptation suggest more evidence of constraints and hard limits than other types of responses. Individuals and households face economic and socio-cultural constraints which also inhibit behavioral adaptation responses and may lead to limits. Finance, governance, institutional, and policy constraints are most prevalent globally. These findings provide early signposts for boundaries of human adaptation and are of high relevance for guiding proactive adaptation financing and governance from local to global scales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Small island developing states (SIDS) are recognized as a special case for sustainable development due to the unique set of challenges and vulnerabilities they face. While SIDS are a diverse group of nations, most share characteristics of small size, limited land availability, insularity, susceptibility to natural disasters and deep integration into global markets that make them particularly vulnerable to global environmental and economic change processes. Although there has been considerable research into the impacts of global change processes on small island vulnerability, much less attention has been paid to their resilience, particularly at the intersection of environmental and economic change and the consequences for food security. This paper presents an overview of the social-ecological vulnerabilities that drive food and nutrition insecurity in different SIDS contexts and considers how policies and governance arrangements might better support more resilient and sustainable small island food systems drawing from the collection of papers in this Special Issue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Providing sound evidence to inform decision-making that considers the needs of the most vulnerable to climate change will help both adaptation and development efforts. Such evidence is particularly important in climate change 'hot spots', where strong climate signal and high concentrations of vulnerable people are present. These hot spots include semiarid regions and deltas of Africa and Asia, and glacier- and snowpack-dependent river basins of South Asia. In advance of a major research effort focusing on these three hot spots, studies were commissioned to identify and characterize the current status of knowledge in each on biophysical impacts, social vulnerability, and adaptation policy and practice. The resulting seven papers are brought together in this special edition, with this editorial introduction providing background on these hot spots, the program through which the studies were commissioned, and an overview of the papers that follow. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Small, low-lying islands are highly vulnerable to the effects of climate change and development of effective adaptation strategies is regarded as an urgent need. Through an analysis of existing and emerging climate adaptation policies, this paper assesses the climate adaptation response in the Cayman Islands. Despite its strong economic status and several developments in the areas of Planning, Environment and Tourism, alongside a draft Climate Change Policy, the study reveals a focus on symbolic policies and a lack of adopted “concrete” climate change adaptation policies. Although the draft National Climate Change Policy (2011) contains a comprehensive range of substantial policies, none has been formally adopted by the Cayman Islands Government. The practical implications of this situation in the face of climate change-related hazards are assessed in the context of Seven Mile Beach, the most heavily developed stretch of the Cayman Islands coast. Here, the prevailing response to shoreline change is stabilisation and, despite several opportunities to change the situation, recent policy developments have not stimulated changes in practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite recent calls to limit future increases in the global average temperature to well below 2 °C, little is known about how different climatic thresholds will impact human society. Future warming trends have significant global food security implications, particularly for small island developing states (SIDS) that are recognized as being among the most vulnerable to global climate change. In the case of the Caribbean, any significant change in the region’s climate is likely to have significant adverse effects on the agriculture sector. This paper explores the potential biophysical impacts of a + 1.5 °C warming scenario on several economically important crops grown in the Caribbean island of Jamaica. Also, it explores differences to a > 2.0 °C warming scenario, which is more likely, if the current policy agreements cannot be complied with by the international community. We use the ECOCROP niche model to estimate how predicted changes in future climate could affect the growing conditions of several commonly cultivated crops from both future scenarios. We then discuss some key policy considerations for Jamaica’s agriculture sector, specifically related to the challenges posed to future adaptation pathways amidst growing climate uncertainty and complexity. Our model results show that even an increase less than + 1.5 °C is expected to have an overall negative impact on crop suitability and a general reduction in the range of crops available to Jamaican farmers. This observation is instructive as increases above the + 1.5 °C threshold would likely lead to even more irreversible and potentially catastrophic changes to the sustainability of Jamaica’s agriculture sector. The paper concludes by outlining some key considerations for future action, paying keen attention to the policy relevance of a + 1.5 °C temperature limit. Given little room for optimism with respect to the imminent changes that SIDS will need to confront in the near future, broad-based policy engagement by stakeholders in these geographies is paramount, irrespective of the climate warming scenario. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the local effects of global warming-derived impacts is important to island systems due to their fragile environmental conditions. This is especially true when it comes to Mediterranean insular regions as they are climate change (CC) hotspots where adaptation and mitigation policy design is an urgent matter. Looking at 2030 as a time horizon for climate action and focusing on the Balearic Islands, this paper reviews the physical changes projected for the coming decades as a result of CC and analyses their impacts on regional environmental, economic and social variables. Mitigation and adaptation measures are also proposed based on the identified priority impacts. The fact the Balearics are a top world holiday destination allows the analysis to serve as a guide to other Mediterranean islands with tourism-based economies facing similar CC scenarios. Results show the projected rise of temperature and sea level; the reduction of the average precipitation and increase in evapotranspiration, the droughts and the increase in ocean acidification and deoxygenation are the main threats faced by the Balearics, this putting their economy at risk due to the high tourism’s vulnerability to CC. Mitigation and adaptation action on terrestrial and marine ecosystems, water resources, energy, infrastructure and urban planning, human health, economy, law and education is recommended. Sustainable mobility and waste managing are also viewed as important fields for mitigation action. Conclusions show that diversifying the current socioeconomic model is needed to increase the community and territory resilience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In October 2014, an extreme precipitation event hit western Norway, which caused flooding, landslides and severe damage to infrastructure and houses. Climate model projections for western Norway show that heavy precipitation events, such as the one in 2014, will increase in frequency and intensity in the future. This paper discusses barriers to proactive adaptation to high-impact weather events in two municipalities in western Norway. Interviews were conducted with representatives from municipalities in this region to understand the adaptation measures the municipalities had implemented after this event and the barriers to proactive adaptation to extreme events in the future. We found that the key barriers to proactive adaptation are lack of resources, lack of knowledge and lack of willingness to adapt. The magnitude of the event meant that only a few of the informants expected the municipality to be hit by such an extreme event again in the near future, and as such, they did not see a need for major adaptation measures. Further, some assumed that the municipality was sufficiently protected because their areas either were not directly affected or were secured after the event. Finally, some interviewees assumed that it is not possible to adapt to such high-magnitude events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A primary goal of studying climate change adaptation is to identify the adaptation options that are used to improve crop productivity or reduce the negative impacts of climate change. Many of the adjustments in farm management that farmers adopt do not necessarily represent true adaptations to climate change, an issue often ignored in existing literature and resulting in a risk that policy makers are misled to think that adaptation is easier than it actually is, and thereby underestimate the challenge that climate change presents. The overall goal of this study is to identify whether farmers’ adoptions are enhancing food production and adapting to climate change. The identification uses a plot-level panel from a survey of 619 rural households in three provinces in China and county-level weather data. With the use of plot and county-by-year fixed effects as well as instrumental variable approaches, our estimates show that the autonomous adoptions are not effective in improving crop yields. This implies that farmers’ adoptions cannot be always considered adaptations to climate change. The paper provides a possible explanation for the results and concludes with policy implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we present the results of a systematic literature review of climate change vulnerability-related research conducted in Bangladesh between 1994 and 2017 in order to identify trends and knowledge gaps. Our results identify interesting evolutions in the temporal and spatial scales of study and the nature of spatial and thematic associations, suggesting important knowledge gaps in the existing literature that likely limit understandings of scale-sensitive climate change impacts. We also observed a temporal mismatch between the published studies and policy-making processes focused on adaptation and mitigation and a bias towards the economic aspects of climate change, with less focus on social and environmental issues. Thematically, the climate change-related scholarship in Bangladesh would benefit from more integrative, cross-theme, and transdisciplinary studies, potentially drawing on the different theoretical constructs of vulnerability and adaptation. Such studies will be needed to better support evidence-based public policy and also to more accurately reflect the diversity of knowledge gaps and challenges concerning climatic stresses in Bangladesh at different scales and in different contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change adaptation decision-making frameworks have evolved over the past three decades, with the management of information and knowledge now a key element of these processes. This paper examines the use of climate change-related information for national adaptation planning and decision-making in the Pacific Islands region to better understand the use of, and demand for, such information. Using an appreciative inquiry approach, a situation analysis was undertaken to examine the information praxis of national governments in Papua New Guinea, Tonga and Tuvalu, as well as the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme. The study revealed that adaptation decisions are (i) driven by national strategies and priorities which are innately community-centred, (ii) largely made through collaborative structures involving multiple stakeholders within a specific governance or project setting, and (iii) informed by a range of climatic and nonclimatic information from domestic, regional and international sources. The study also affirmed the importance of information and knowledge management to national adaptation planning and decision-making, evidence of collaborative and multistakeholder decision-making processes, and the trend towards country-driven and user-centred information and knowledge production. The study recommends dedicated commitment to and investment in information and knowledge management for Pacific Islands, and the need for a holistic understanding of the complex environment in which climate change adaptation takes place. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change and its consequence of sea level rise are major issues for small island developing states (SIDS), as they worsen many other pressures on their people and their environment. Accordingly, articles in this special issue of Regional Environmental Change on SIDS address research gaps in the following thematic areas of the human dimensions of climate change. (1) Islander perceptions of climate change and the information sources on which these are based. (2) Migration to richer countries, which dominates popular media articles, so that scholars from a wide range of disciplines have given their perspectives on it. For many SIDS, however, relocation within that country is much more of an issue, but little studied as yet. (3) Community-based adaptation, a theme which only rarely appears in peer-reviewed journals. (4) National, regional and international policies and the effectiveness of their implementation. (5) Social and cultural issues arising from the above. This paper provides an overview of these and some related themes of importance to SIDS, including ocean acidification and land degradation. Researchers based in the SIDS and regional organisations have an important role in recognising these issues and in developing the local skills base needed to deal with them. The Paris Agreement of 2015 is a positive (but as yet inadequate) step towards the international action on climate change that SIDS need. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social capital is increasingly recognized as a key determinant of adaptive capacity to climate change. Beyond formal adaptation infrastructure like insurance and public disaster support programmes, it can be difficult to identify the role that informal social capital—such as relationships, trust, and mutual support between community members—plays in climate adaptation. Drawing on a multi-site qualitative study in the Canadian Prairie region, this paper examines how three forms of social capital (bonding, bridging, and linking) shape rural communities’ adaptation to climate extremes. Based on in-depth interviews with 163 community members, the findings demonstrate how social capital contributes to adaptive capacity, particularly in rural areas where more formal supports may be absent or lacking. We examine how social capital is affected by existing socio-economic sensitivities, such as rural depopulation, which can reduce informal social capital while simultaneously increasing people’s dependence on it. The findings indicate the strengths and limitations of bonding and bridging social capital, particularly in the face of future climate extremes that may exceed local adaptive capacity. Further, we find that informal social capital may also reinforce gender inequality, exclusion, and inter-group differences, indicating its limitations for socially inclusive adaptation. Addressing these structural factors can help communities move past coping and toward long-term adaptation. In the face of increasing climate risks, our findings suggest the importance of public supports that are attentive to local strengths, gaps, and social relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

All over the world, there is a pressing need to better understand how climate change has been incorporated into governmental agendas, and evaluate the status of adaptation planning and interventions at the local level. In this paper, we seek to contribute towards bridging this gap by identifying local practices connected to climate adaptation in six large Brazilian cities, and presenting a framework, based on the existing literature, for assessing constraints to adaptation across the municipal level. Although local governments are not the only actors who can take the lead through their actions, the employed framework considers that effective adaptation planning in urban areas is highly dependent on municipal efforts. Our findings indicate that six aspects have the highest levels of impact on adaptation in the Brazilian cities studied: administrative practices, political will, level of commitment, mismatch between the scale of urban issues and the extent of local government authority, pressures from private sectors, and inspection. Although these barriers are not specific only to climate issues and can be identified in other environmental arenas, when combined, they cause and worsen constraints to advancing urban adaptation at the local level. Specifically concerning the local dynamics of urban planning, the combination of pressures from private sectors and insufficient inspection negatively affects the ability of these cities to consolidate adaptation interventions. Our results are helpful in the context of large cities, particularly in Global South, where, as in Brazil, competitive urbanism and specific interest groups confront municipal efforts, and make achieving adaptation more difficult. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sub-Saharan Africa is particularly vulnerable to climate change. Multiple biophysical, political, and socioeconomic stresses interact to increase the region's susceptibility and constrain its adaptive capacity. Climate change is commonly recognized as a major issue likely to have negative consequences on food security and livelihoods in the region. This paper reviews three bodies of scholarship that have evolved somewhat separately, yet are inherently interconnected: climate change impacts, vulnerability and adaptation, food security, and sustainable livelihoods. The paper develops a conceptualization of the relationships among the three themes and shows how food security's vulnerabilities are related to multiple stresses and adaptive capacities, reflecting access to assets. Food security represents one of several livelihood outcomes. The framework shows how several research paradigms relate to the issue of food security and climate change and provides a guide for empirical investigations. Recognizing these interconnections can help in the development of more effective policies and programs. The framework is applied here to synthesize findings from an array of studies in sub-Saharan Africa dealing with vulnerability to climate change, food security, and livelihoods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the Paris Agreement target of holding global temperature increases 1.5 to 2 °C above pre-industrial levels, high-end climate change (HECC) scenarios going beyond 4 °C are becoming increasingly plausible. HECC may imply increasing climate variability and extremes as well as the triggering of tipping points, posing further difficulties for adaptation. This paper compares the outcomes of four concurrent European case studies (EU, Hungary, Portugal, and Scotland) that explore the individual and institutional conditions, and the information used to underpin adaptation-related decision-making in the context of HECC. The focus is on (i) whether HECC scenarios are used in current adaptation-related decision-making processes; (ii) the role of uncertainty and how climate and non-climate information is used (or not) in these processes; and (iii) the information types (including socio-economic drivers) commonly used and their limitations in relation to HECC scenarios. Decision-makers perceive HECC as having a low probability or distant occurrence and do not routinely account for HECC scenarios within existing climate actions. Decision-makers also perceive non-climate drivers as at least as important, in many cases more important, than climate change alone. Whilst more information about the implications of particular sectoral and cross-sectoral impacts is needed, climate change uncertainty is not a significant barrier to decision-making. Further understanding of individual and institutional challenges brought about by the 'squeeze' between adapting to HECC scenarios or to lower levels of temperature change (as those agreed in Paris) is essential to better contextualise the use of climate change information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adaptation is a key component of climate policy, yet we have limited and fragmented understanding of if and how adaptation is currently taking place. In this paper, we document and characterize the current status of adaptation in 47 vulnerable 'hotspot' nations in Asia and Africa, based on a systematic review of the peer-reviewed and grey literature, as well as policy documents, to extract evidence of adaptation initiatives. In total, 100 peer-reviewed articles, 161 grey literature documents, and 27 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change National Communications were reviewed, constituting 760 adaptation initiatives. Results indicate a significant increase in reported adaptations since 2006. Adaptations are primarily being reported from African and low-income countries, particularly those nations receiving adaptation funds, involve a combination of groundwork and more concrete adaptations to reduce vulnerability, and are primarily being driven by national governments, NGOs, and international institutions, with minimal involvement of lower levels of government or collaboration across nations. Gaps in our knowledge of adaptation policy and practice are particularly notable in North Africa and Central Asia, and there is limited evidence of adaptation initiatives being targeted at vulnerable populations including socioeconomically disadvantaged populations, children, indigenous peoples, and the elderly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nuclear energy is a very important component of overall power supply in France. If the effects of future extreme weather events or climate shifts are not addressed, energy systems will be highly vulnerable to extreme weather events or shifts in weather patterns, such as changes in precipitation. Because of the deep uncertainties involved in climate projections and response strategies, any strategy implementation should perform adequately regardless of which scenario actually materialises. In this paper, we analyse the effects of drought and heat wave in the French nuclear energy sector using the Strategy Robustness Visualisation Method. The key feature of the method is the modelling of uncertainty of the quantitative indicators by (min, max) values plotted on radar plots such that each strategy option’s performance can be visually inspected for robustness. The method can be utilised as a “module” of its own in different uncertainty management approaches. Based on the case study, the presented adaptation strategies “Maintaining industrial production and final demand” and “Smart grid infrastructure” were more robust than the “No planned or automatic adaptation”. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the relationship between specific household traits (region of residence, head of household occupation, financial diversity, female level of education, land and animal ownership, social capital, and climate perception) and choice of specific adaptation strategies used by households in two sites in Baja California Sur, Mexico, during a severe drought from 2006 to 2012 using survey data and key informant interviews. We analyzed the co-occurrence of household traits adopting different drought adaptation strategies, then applied Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) to examine the relationship between traits and strategies and integrated interview data to understand how rancheros perceive associations. We found evidence of diversity among households within the larger cultural group, both in the types of resources they have available and in the adaptation strategies they select. However, the most robust finding across the analyses appeared to be urban access; that is, the more a household was able to access urban services including piped water, the less likely they were to have used one of the drought adaptation strategies under study. These findings suggest that social structure and public investments are stronger predictors of smallholder adaptation rather than individual household traits. We also found that rancheros seem to rely less on traditional environmental migration to adapt to drought and rather settle in key watershed zones. We call for targeted policies to address inequities to access fresh water, including urban water, during drought times for the benefit of overall watershed health and the sustainability of rural ranchero livelihoods as they evolve to respond to climatological and economic change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainable urban infrastructure transition is perhaps the biggest challenge confronting cities in the global south in a time of climate change. Fast-growing cities are increasingly faced with deficiencies in the provisioning of public infrastructures, such as delivering water and sewage treatment and mitigating the risk of flooding to large segments of the population. Problems such as flooding encapsulate both structural and individual dimensions of adaptation. In this paper, we present a conceptual framework to analyze urban adaptation to increasing flood risk in the capital city of Belem in the Brazilian Amazon. Our analysis focuses on two domains of adaptive capacity to floods: generic capacity (provisioning of basic infrastructure and services) and specific capacity (effective flooding response, proactive strategies for risk reduction). We combined data from census sector and household semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions, observational and archival data, and photo documentation to analyze both capacities in the city of Belém. Our findings indicated deficiency and intra-urban variability of both generic (water supply, sanitation, waste management, and adequate storm drainage) and specific capacities (specific individual and community and political actions for flood mitigation). However, significant inequalities exist across sectors of the population. Poorest urban sectors present higher deficits of generic adaptive capacity related to infrastructure. The expansion of vast areas of informal settlements, lack of basic infrastructure, and failed projects to reduce flood risk also challenge the specific adaptive capacity of households. A perception of corruption associated with public projects and high levels of violence also prevent cooperation and collective action among residents affected by flooding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research that projects biophysical changes under climate change is more advanced than research that projects socio-economic changes. There is a need in adaptation planning for informed socio-economic projections as well as analysis of how these changes may exacerbate or reduce vulnerability. Our focus in this paper is on the delivery of time-sensitive socio-economic information that can better support anticipatory adaptation planning approaches. Using a ‘multiple lines of evidence’ approach based on Australian Bureau of Statistics’ data (2010/2011), we examine the socio-economic vulnerability of the grazing sector located on Australia’s east coast. We profile the east coast grazing sector through an overview of the composition of its workforce and the value of grazing commodities produced. We then assess the potential vulnerability of the grazing sector using spatial snapshots of five factors known to shape socio-economic vulnerability in New South Wales and Queensland: (1) reliance on agriculture, (2) geographic remoteness, (3) socio-economic disadvantage, (4) economic diversity and (5) age. Our assessment of the east coast grazing sector reveals six subregions characterised by high potential socio-economic vulnerability to the impacts of climate change. We find high percentages of labour forces employed in agriculture, geographic remoteness and age (high percentages of owner/managers and employees in younger age groups) to be drivers of vulnerability. Finally, we evaluate the ways in which these vulnerabilities may be exacerbated or reduced in light of emerging environmental, economic and social trends. This approach complements demographic projection methods to deliver time-sensitive socio-economic information to support anticipatory adaptation planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global climate models predict temperature rises and changes in precipitation regimes that will shift regional climate zones and influence the viability of agricultural crops in Nepal. Understanding the influence of climate change on local climates and the suitability of specific sites for the production of individual crop types at present and in the future is crucial to increasing local crop resilience and ensuring the long-term viability of plantations—especially of high-value, perennial tree crops that require significant investment. This paper focuses on two cash crops, Macadamia and Juglans. A literature review summarises data on temperature, precipitation, and other macro- and microclimatic requirements of both genera. On this basis, we investigate the short- and long-term suitability of areas in Nepal for production of the two crops by means of a spatial model based on extensive in situ measurements, meteorological data, and climatic layers from the WorldClim dataset. Finally, we track changes in potential cultivation area under four Representative Concentration Pathways. Results show that climatic requirements for the cultivation of Macadamia and Juglans are fulfilled across a large part of Nepal at present and in the future: the total suitable area for both trees shrinks only marginally under all four scenarios. However, suitable areas shift considerably in spatial and altitudinal terms, meaning that some currently productive areas will become unproductive in the future, while currently unproductive ones will become productive. We conclude that the consideration of macro- and microclimatic changes in agricultural planning is essential to long-term agricultural success in Nepal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Different social-ecological systems around the world are managed under community-based natural resource management (CBNRM) strategies. This paper analyses how CBNRM strategies influence the resilience of social-ecological systems to the disturbances they face, drawing upon the experience of three Latin American cases (two in Mexico and one in Colombia). The cases differ in their CBNRM approach and in the time these governance systems have been in place. By using a mixed-method approach, we review the socio-ecological history and describe each CBNRM characteristics. We then assess their resilience to socioeconomic and environmental disturbances through a set of indicators. We found that CBNRM strategies influence positively and negatively resilience and that internal decisions might address important threats. On the positive side, the social-ecological systems with longer tradition of CBNRM and more local buy-in of commonly agreed objectives appear to be more resilient to environmental challenges. But, internal governance factors such as power imbalances, poor income distribution, and gender inequities linked to CBNRM undermine resilience and foster out migration. Finally, communities appear to have limited capacities to cope with external disturbances such as global drivers of change or national policies that negatively affect their social-ecological resilience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adaptation research has changed significantly in recent years as funders and researchers seek to encourage greater impact, ensure value for money and promote interdisciplinarity across the natural and social sciences. While these developments are inherently positive, they also bring fresh challenges. With this in mind, this paper presents an agenda for the next generation of climate adaptation research for development. The agenda is based on insights from a dialogue session held at the 2016 Adaptation Futures conference as well as drawing on the collective experience of the authors. We propose five key areas that need to be changed in order to meet the needs of future adaptation research, namely: increasing transparency and consultation in research design; encouraging innovation in the design and delivery of adaptation research programmes; demonstrating impact on the ground; addressing incentive structures; and promoting more effective brokering, knowledge management and learning. As new international funding initiatives start to take shape, we underscore the importance of learning from past experiences and scaling-up of successful innovations in research funding models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper seeks to understand why climate information is produced differently from country to country. To do this, we critically examined and compared the social and scientific values that shaped the production of three national climate scenarios in the Netherlands, Switzerland and the UK. A comparative analysis of documentary materials and expert interviews linked to the climate scenarios was performed. Our findings reveal a new typology of use-inspired research in climate science for decision-making: (i) innovators, where the advancement of science is the main objective; (ii) consolidators, where knowledge exchanges and networks are prioritised; and (iii) collaborators, where the needs of users are put first and foremost. These different values over what constitutes 'good' science for decision-making are mirrored in the way users were involved in the production process: (i) elicitation, where scientists have privileged decision-making power; (ii) representation, where multiple organisations mediate on behalf of individual users; and (iii) participation, where a multitude of users interact with scientists in an equal partnership. These differences help explain why climate knowledge gains its credibility and legitimacy differently even when the information itself might not be judged as salient and usable. If the push to deliberately co-produce climate knowledge is not sensitive to the national civic epistemology at play in each country, scientist-user interactions may fail to deliver more 'usable' climate information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Integrated water resources management (IWRM) assumes coherence between cognate aspects of water governance at the river basin scale, for example water quality, energy production and agriculture objectives. But critics argue that IWRM is often less 'integrated' in practice, raising concerns over inter-sectoral coherence between implementing institutions. One increasingly significant aspect of IWRM is adaptation to climate change-related risks, including threats from flooding, which are particularly salient in England. Although multiple institutional mechanisms exist for flood risk management (FRM), their coherence remains a critical question for national adaptation. This paper therefore (1) maps the multi-level institutional frameworks determining both IWRM and FRM in England; (2) examines their interaction via various inter-institutional coordinating mechanisms; and (3) assesses the degree of coherence. The analysis suggests that cognate EU strategic objectives for flood risk assessment demonstrate relatively high vertical and horizontal coherence with river basin planning. However, there is less coherence with flood risk requirements for land-use planning and national flood protection objectives. Overall, this complex governance arrangement actually demonstrates de-coherence over time due to ongoing institutional fragmentation. Recommendations for increasing IWRM coherence in England or re-coherence based on greater spatial planning and coordination of water-use and land-use strategies are proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper summarizes effects of forage-legume intercropping on grain and fodder yield, land equivalent ratio, residual soil fertility, disease and insect pest reduction in mixed crop-livestock systems in Africa. In particular, it discusses the potential benefit of forage-legume intercropping in improving productivity, resource use efficiency and resilience of the system under climate change. Research undertaken in Africa demonstrates that intercropping forage legumes with cereals improves land intensification due to improvement in overall yield and soil fertility, and reduced risk of crop failure owing to rainfall variability, diseases, weeds and pests. Forage from intercropped legumes improves the intake of dietary nitrogen, digestibility of poor-quality feed, animal performance and efficiency of roughage feed utilization by ruminants. The improvement in digestibility alone leads to 15-30% reduction in methane emission per unit of animal product. Additional role that legumes may play includes lowering erosion (20-30%), reducing nitrogen leaching and carbon losses, and promoting carbon sequestration. Nitrogen fixed by legumes was on average 45 kg N/ha, and this ranges between 4 and 217 kg N/ha for herbaceous legumes and 8 and 643 kg N/ha for fodder tree species. Despite the many benefits of forage-legume intercropping, the current adoption rate in sub-Saharan Africa is very low. Future research aimed at selection of compatible varieties, appropriate plant geometry and temporal arrangement of the various intercrops under different locations and management scenarios, and minimizing the confounding effects of water, soil, light, microclimate and seeds could enhance adoption of the technology in Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines barriers and opportunities for climate change adaptation in an urban coastal setting where adaptation is in its infancy. It draws on a diagnostic framework as a foundation for identifying and organising barriers and opportunities in terms of three broad phases of the adaptation process, i.e. (1) understanding the problem, (2) planning adaptation options and (3) managing implementation of such options. Data come from the analysis of documents (e.g. policy, plans and reports) and a survey of 49 representatives from 42 organisations (e.g. government, environmental non-governmental organisations, businesses and local industry and professional associations). Nineteen barriers and/or opportunities pertaining to the different phases of the adaptation process were identified. Three of those barriers (i.e. competing priorities, existing management context and existing ecological context) are our additions to the initial list of common barriers proposed in the diagnostic framework. Barriers pertaining to the understanding phase were the most frequently noted by respondents. The understanding phase was also one which most of the barriers were nevertheless considered as opportunities. Emerging critical barriers and/or opportunities for climate change adaptation included perception of signal, availability and accessibility of information, existing management context and leadership. We propose that addressing these barriers and opportunities would involve improving perception about climate change and availability and accessibility of information, fostering anticipatory planned adaptation through the existing management context and developing leadership for adaptation. Findings from this study may prove useful to other jurisdictions, particularly those where climate adaptation is at its early stages of development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global cities are taking a leadership role in climate change adaptation. Increasing numbers of cities are creating climate adaptation plans and strategies, and a wide range of international organizations are developing tools and programs to promote and support further planning, despite the fact that the few studies to date that have evaluated adaptation planning have found it to be ineffective: focused more on broad visions than specific actions. To understand why cities continue to engage in adaptation planning, what benefits planners anticipate, and whether these benefits can be achieved through vision-oriented strategies as well as action-based plans, this study reports on a qualitative case study of the creation and adoption of the 2011 London, United Kingdom, Climate Change Adaptation Strategy. Results from interviews with participants and stakeholders indicate the London Strategy was consciously developed as a vision-setting strategy and was successful in: raising awareness of cross-sectoral risks, coordinating pre-existing adaptation efforts, validating stakeholder engagement, providing political authorization for use of resources and personnel, and creating continuity of purpose across changing political administrations. To accurately capture these benefits in other urban adaptation planning efforts will require a new evaluation approach. Based on the London case, this paper proposes future adaptation strategies be evaluated according to how well they build the adaptive capacity of city institutions to enable ongoing adaptation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In many countries, drought is the natural hazard that causes the greatest agronomic impacts. After recurrent droughts, farmers typically learn from experience and implement changes in management to reduce their future drought risks and impacts. This paper aims to understand how irrigated agriculture in a humid climate has been affected by past droughts and how different actors have adapted their activities and strategies over time to increase their resilience. After examining recent drought episodes from an agroclimatic perspective, information from an online survey was combined with evidence from semi-structured interviews with farmers to assess: drought risk perceptions, impacts of past drought events, management strategies at different scales (regional to farm level) and responses to future risks. Interviews with the water regulatory agency were also conducted to explore their attitudes and decision-making processes during drought events. The results highlight how agricultural drought management strategies evolve over time, including how specific aspects have helped to reduce future drought risks. The importance of adopting a vertically integrated drought management approach in the farming sector coupled with a better understanding of past drought impacts and management options is shown to be crucial for improving decision-making during future drought events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scenario planning is a flexible tool used to assess a broad range of plausible, relevant, divergent, and challenging futures, for short-term responses and long-term planning. Scenario planning has gained popularity in natural resource management for addressing uncertainties associated with climate change, but the literature contains few retrospective assessments of scenario planning. In this paper, we use a case study of a climate change scenario planning process conducted by National Park Service in Alaska to evaluate this tool and its outcomes. Five planning workshops, each addressing an Inventory and Monitoring Network in Alaska, were held between 2010 and 2012. In 2015, we conducted 30 interviews with workshop participants to evaluate the outcomes of these workshops. Participants described individual outcomes, including increased knowledge of climate change, increased awareness of uncertainty, and the ability to learn from others across disciplines and backgrounds. Challenges include ensuring adequate feedback and follow-through after the initial process, making products tangible and meaningful to participants, and providing specific mechanisms for applying the process beyond the workshop. The evaluation showed that the workshops were well organized and facilitated, and that they fostered individual learning and helped participants develop adaptive capacity. Suggestions for improvement included institutionalizing the process so that it can have more impact at the organizational level, and recognizing and preparing for the challenges of co-production of knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With increasing funding directed towards climate change adaptation (CCA) in developing countries, there is a growing need to understand how this support is landing on the ground and impacting on the targeted vulnerable communities. Due to failure of top-down approaches, international organisations such as the adaptation fund are now demanding direct involvement of local actors when funding adaptation actions. Direct access mechanisms have been developed to facilitate channelling fund from the international to local levels. At this level, civil society, public and private organisations have a key role to play to assist adaptation among vulnerable groups. But are local organisations ready to play that role in developing countries? In this paper, we develop and apply a framework to measure adaptive capacity among local organisations. Through extensive fieldwork in South Africa, we assessed the capacity of local organisations to develop and implement CCA projects, and thus access international funds for adaptation. Results highlight key determinants of adaptive capacity and identify areas to prioritise for capacity-building interventions. Key findings include strengthening local organisations' effectiveness (e.g. resources, project management capacity) and flexibility; raising awareness about adaptation and its links with socio-economic development; and promoting partnerships and knowledge networks as pathways to build adaptive capacity among local organisations in South Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to climate change, transport systems are expected to become increasingly stressed by extreme weather and gradual climatic changes, resulting in direct costs within the affected sectors as well as indirect costs from sectoral interlinkages. To reduce these costs, sector-specific climate change adaptation measures are needed, raising the question of the net benefits of adaptation at a macroeconomic level. However, despite their importance such assessments of impacts and adaptation at the macrolevel are scarce and coarse in their implementation. This paper contributes to fill this research gap by analyzing specific adaptation measures for the road and rail sectors in Austria using a computable general equilibrium model. The findings are as follows: First, direct impact costs more than double due to macroeconomic linkages. Hence, the indirect costs are found to be larger than the direct costs. Second, when analyzing adaptation measures for the road and rail sectors, without capturing any indirect effects, benefit-cost ratios imply a clear benefit only for the rail sector. However, when indirect effects via sectoral interlinkages are also captured, adaptation measures in both sectors, road and rail, clearly pay off. Climate change-induced GDP and welfare losses are reduced by 55 and 34% and lead to positive employment effects. Third, even at rather low damage reduction potentials, adaptation leads to a net benefit at the macroeconomic level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent discussions on forests and climate change have highlighted the potential for conservation of tropical forests to contribute synergistically to both mitigation (reducing emissions of greenhouse gases) and adaptation (increasing capacity to cope with changing climate conditions). Key mechanisms through which adaptive advantages might be gained include the potential for forest resources to support livelihoods in the context of climatic strains on agriculture and the protection that intact forest ecosystems might provide against landslides, flash floods and other hazards related to extreme weather. This paper presents findings from field research with forest communities in three areas of the Congo Basin in Central Africa, in which the adaptive role and potential of forests in these respects is critically analysed. The investigation was carried out through a combination of structured and semi-structured qualitative techniques within six villages in Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea and Rwanda. The findings of the research highlight the need to understand both the limits of synergy, and the constraints and trade-offs for rural livelihoods that may be associated with a forest conservation agenda driven by the additional impetus of carbon sequestration. The search for synergy may be conceptually laudable, but if forest management actions do not take account of on-the-ground contexts of constraints and social trade-offs then the result of those actions risks undermining wider livelihood resilience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Local and traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) systems are thought to be particularly valuable for fostering adaptation and resilience to environmental and climate change. This paper investigates the role of TEK in adaptation to social-ecological change at the community level. It is unique because it takes a longitudinal perspective and draws on historical and contemporary data. We focus on a case study from Hawai'i where TEK, cultural identity, and their relationships to environmental stewardship are locally seen as the basis for social resilience. We describe how coping strategies and indicators of social resilience have changed over time; the role of TEK in resilience; and the implications for climate change adaptation. Our results show the relative contributions of some strategies to cope with social-ecological change have decreased (e.g., forecasting, storage, and mobility), while others have maintained but adapted (e.g., livelihood diversification, knowledge transmission and storage, communal pooling, and cultural identity), underscoring the importance of considering multiple strategies together to promote community resilience. The article argues that understanding how people responded in the past can suggest relevant and culturally appropriate ways-through specific language, values, reference points, and indicators expressed in narratives, proverbs, and songs-of situating climate change and framing adaptation planning. This research also shows that TEK is vital for adaptation to environmental change broadly and climate change in particular, for subsistence-based, indigenous, rural communities, as well as place-based communities living in mixed economies. Thus, it is relevant for the larger Pacific Islands region and other areas that represent a continuum from rural-to-urban and traditional-to-global economies and lifeways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite there being considerable research and knowledge surrounding the risks of climate change on agricultural productivity, fewer studies have examined risks from a whole-of-chain perspective (i.e. from producer to consumer) and the perceptions of consumers about the climate adaptation strategies of food businesses. This paper presents the findings of a survey of 1532 Australian consumers and how they might respond to a food company's climate adaptation strategy. Three respondent archetypes, ' Eco-warriors' ( n = 557), ' Undecideds' ( n = 600) and ' Abdicators' ( n = 375), were identified based on their perceptions of risks associated with climate change and their attitudes towards climate adaptation. Further analysis was carried out to understand how each group of respondents would respond to adaptation strategies employed by food companies. Based on the findings of this study, two main challenges are presented for food value chains: (1) translating consumer needs and preferences to niche opportunities arising from adaptation and (2) understanding how best to communicate adaptation benefits based on varying attitudes and information needs. By addressing these challenges, synergies between adaptation goals and competitive strategies in food value chains may be achieved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How should we measure a household's resilience to climate extremes, climate change or other evolving threats? As resilience gathers momentum on the international stage, interest in this question continues to grow. So far, efforts to measure resilience have largely focused on the use of 'objective' frameworks and methods of indicator selection. These typically depend on a range of observable socio-economic variables, such as levels of income, the extent of a household's social capital or its access to social safety nets. Yet while objective methods have their uses, they suffer from well-documented weaknesses. This paper advocates for the use of an alternative but complementary method: the measurement of 'subjective' resilience at the household level. The concept of subjective resilience stems from the premise that people have an understanding of the factors that contribute to their ability to anticipate, buffer and adapt to disturbance and change. Subjective household resilience therefore relates to an individual's cognitive and affective self-evaluation of their household's capabilities and capacities in responding to risk. We discuss the advantages and limitations of measuring subjective household resilience and highlight its relationships with other concepts such as perceived adaptive capacity, subjective well-being and psychological resilience. We then put forward different options for the design and delivery of survey questions on subjective household resilience. While the approach we describe is focused at the household level, we show how it has the potential to be aggregated to inform sub-national or national resilience metrics and indicators. Lastly, we highlight how subjective methods of resilience assessment could be used to improve policy and decision-making. Above all, we argue that, alongside traditional objective measures and indicators, efforts to measure resilience should take into account subjective aspects of household resilience in order to ensure a more holistic understanding of resilience to climate extremes and disasters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]