How to adapt

Adapting to climate change impacts is a complex task. We are at an early stage in understanding likely impacts and options for dealing with them. However, there are steps businesses, governments and the community can take now to prepare for climate change in the future.

Plan early

Early planning for the impacts of climate change is likely to bring considerable advantages. Many decisions made today will have consequences for decades. It is cheaper, for example, to design new housing or infrastructure to cope with a future climate than to retrofit later.

Be systematic and strategic

Adaptation planning will be more effective if it is systematic and strategic. Such an approach will:

• engage stakeholders
• identify and set priorities for action
• assign responsibility for action and monitor implementation
• keep adaptation strategies under regular review.

Adaptation planning is unlikely to succeed if done in isolation from other activities. Adaptation will probably require a special focus and dedicated resources, but must build into existing practices and strategies. One outcome of adaptation planning may be to modify existing practices and policies.

Risk management is one useful approach to adaptation planning.

Use the best information

This website includes:

• the latest climate change projections for Australia
• information about historical climate trends
• some information about likely climate change impacts
• examples of practical adaptation options.

For some organisations this may be enough to begin adaptation planning. Other organisations may need to seek further information related to their activities. For example, detailed hydrological modelling or information about the temperature threshold beyond which an endangered species is no longer able to cope. This information may be available from research organisations, or it may not currently exist.

A systematic approach to adaptation planning, such as risk management, will help identify information needs.

Be flexible

Adaptation planning involves judgements about the best strategy in the face of uncertainty about future climate change. A flexible approach is necessary in order to avoid the dangers of:

• Under-adaptation - when climate change factors are given insufficient weight in decision making
• Over-adaptation - when climate change factors are given too much weight in decision making
• Mal-adaptation - when decisions are taken that make an activity or region more vulnerable to climate change.

Some ways to retain flexibility include:

• Avoid decisions that constrain future adaptation options.
• Use an approach such as risk management that allows for regular review of adaptation strategies and their outcomes. This may involve a phased approach to implementation where more costly options are activated as uncertainty is reduced.
• Identify adaptation options with multiple benefits - some examples may be found on this website.