A systematic global stocktake of evidence on human adaptation to climate change

Berrang-Ford, L. et al. (2021) A systematic global stocktake of evidence on human adaptation to climate change. Nature Climate Change, 11(11), pp. 989-1000. (doi: 10.1038/s41558-021-01170-y)

Abstract

Assessing global progress on human adaptation to climate change is an urgent priority. Although the literature on adaptation to climate change is rapidly expanding, little is known about the actual extent of implementation. We systematically screened >48,000 articles using machine learning methods and a global network of 126 researchers. Our synthesis of the resulting 1,682 articles presents a systematic and comprehensive global stocktake of implemented human adaptation to climate change. Documented adaptations were largely fragmented, local and incremental, with limited evidence of transformational adaptation and negligible evidence of risk reduction outcomes. We identify eight priorities for global adaptation research: assess the effectiveness of adaptation responses, enhance the understanding of limits to adaptation, enable individuals and civil society to adapt, include missing places, scholars and scholarship, understand private sector responses, improve methods for synthesizing different forms of evidence, assess the adaptation at different temperature thresholds, and improve the inclusion of timescale and the dynamics of responses.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: This work was supported by the following funding grants: Agence Française de Développement (AKM); UK Government’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office and the International Development Research Centre, Ottawa, Canada (109419 – 001, NS); Agence Nationale pour la recherche (French National research Agency, ANR-10-LABX-14-01, AKM); Agence Nationale pour la recherche (French National research Agency, ANR-15-CE03-0003, AKM); Studienstiftung des Deutsches Volkes (PNS); UK Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Doctoral Training Partnership (ES/P000622/1, project reference 2098296, TiL); National Science Foundation, Directorate for Geosciences (#1935961, Egi); Social Science and Humanities Research Council-SSHRC (756-2021-0037, EGa); China Scholarship Council; Australian National University-Climate Change Institute Supplementary Scholarship (YS); Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades (MICINN) (BIO-ARID PID2020-115770RB-I, JS); European Research Council (grant ERC-SyG-2013-610028, IMBALANCE-P, JoP); Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades (MICINN) (ELEMENTALSHIFT PID2019-110521GB-100, JoP); UGC-JRF scholarship, University Grants Commission, Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India (3643/(SC)(NET-DEC.2015, PK); National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) (using the UK’s Official Development Assistance (ODA) Funding) and Wellcome under the NIHR-Wellcome Partnership for Global Health Research (218743/Z/19/Z, CZC); The Gulf Research Program of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (GWP); International Development Research Centre Canada (LSSC); Agricultural Experiment Station Hatch projects (CA-R-A-6689- H; CA-D-LAW-2352-H, RRH); German Ministry for Education and Research - ARIADNE project and IPCC-AR6-III-2 project (03SFK5J0;01LG1910A, JaM); German Ministry for Education and Research - ARIADNE project (03SFK5J0, MC); NSF-CNH2-LRUI-ROA Grant, Equitable and resilience urban socio-ecological systems (#245531, IA); Portland State University Vision 2025 Grant (IA).
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Shah, Dr Mohammad Aminur and Xu, Dr Jiren
• Authors: Berrang-Ford, L., Siders, A.R., Lesnikowski, A., Fischer, A. P., Callaghan, M. W., Haddaway, N. R., Mach, K. J., Araos, M., Shah, M. A. R., Wannewitz, M., Doshi, D., Leiter, T., Matavel, C., Musah-Surugu, J. I., Wong-Parodi, G., Antwi-Agyei, P., Ajibade, I., Chauhan, N., Kakenmaster, W., Grady, C., Chalastani, V. I., Jagannathan, K., Galappaththi, E. K., Sitati, A., Scarpa, G., Totin, E., Davis, K., Hamilton, N. C., Kirchhoff, C. J., Kumar, P., Pentz, B., Simpson, N. P., Theokritoff, E., Deryng, D., Reckien, D., Zavaleta-Cortijo, C., Ulibarri, N., Segnon, A. C., Khavhagali, V., Shang, Y., Zvobgo, L., Zommers, Z., Xu, J., Williams, P. A., Canosa, I. V., van Maanen, N., van Bavel, B., van Aalst, M., Turek-Hankins, L. L., Trivedi, H., Trisos, C. H., Thomas, A., Thakur, S., Templeman, S., Stringer, L. C., Sotnik, G., Sjostrom, K. D., Singh, C., Siña, M. Z., Shukla, R., Sardans, J., Salubi, E. A., Safaee Chalkasra, L. S., Ruiz-Díaz, R., Richards, C., Pokharel, P., Petzold, J., Penuelas, J., Pelaez Avila, J., Murillo, J. B. P., Ouni, S., Niemann, J., Nielsen, M., New, M., Nayna Schwerdtle, P., Nagle Alverio, G., Mullin, C. A., Mullenite, J., Mosurska, A., Morecroft, M. D., Minx, J. C., Maskell, G., Nunbogu, A. M., Magnan, A. K., Lwasa, S., Lukas-Sithole, M., Lissner, T., Lilford, O., Koller, S. F., Jurjonas, M., Joe, E. T., Huynh, L. T.M., Hill, A., Hernandez, R. R., Hegde, G., Hawxwell, T., Harper, S., Harden, A., Haasnoot, M., Gilmore, E. A., Gichuki, L., Gatt, A., Garschagen, M., Ford, J. D., Forbes, A., Farrell, A. D., Enquist, C. A.F., Elliott, S., Duncan, E., Coughlan de Perez, E., Coggins, S., Chen, T., Campbell, D., Browne, K. E., Bowen, K. J., Biesbroek, R., Bhatt, I. D., Bezner Kerr, R., Barr, S. L., Baker, E., Austin, S. E., Arotoma-Rojas, I., Anderson, C., Ajaz, W., Agrawal, T., and Abu, T. Z.
• College/School: College of Social Sciences > School of Social & Environmental Sustainability
• Journal Name: Nature Climate Change
• Publisher: Nature Research
• ISSN: 1758-678X
• ISSN (Online): 1758-6798
• Published Online: 28 October 2021
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2021 Springer Nature
• First Published: First published in Nature Climate Change 11(11): 989-1000
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher