Promoting action on adaptation

Credit: ScotGov Rural/Flickr

Why is it important? 

People, communities and the economy all face significant risks from climate change: extreme weather and sea level rise pose threats to our health, our homes and our livelihoods as well as the natural ecosystems that we rely on for food, water and clean air. We need adaptation action to minimise these risks and to protect vulnerable people and places, but activity to date has fallen far short of what is needed.  

What are we doing?  

Our work aims to raise awareness of the need for adaptation among both policymakers and researchers. We seek to build relationships between the two communities and to facilitate knowledge exchange that will help to accelerate real-world action on adaptation.

We convene dialogues to advance thinking on key policy challenges, keep policymakers up-to-date with the latest research evidence on adaptation to inform the development of effective and robust adaptation programmes, and identify emerging research questions. Areas that we have explored in greater detail include adaptation and resilience-building in the health, built environment and water sectors. 

Another specific area of focus is the impacts of climate change on mental health and emotional wellbeing. This work is led by the Climate Cares Centre which brings together experts from the Institute of Global Health Innovation and the Grantham Institute. The aim of the centre is to equip individuals, communities and systems with the knowledge and resources to protect mental health from climate impacts, while enabling climate action that strengthens the conditions for good mental health and wellbeing. The centre has convened global dialogues on the topic, developed online training for civil servants and it regularly engages with international processes such as the annual Conference of the Parties (COP).