Adaptation and Climate Change

This paper deals with the often ignored issue of adaptation to human-induced climate change. Adaptation is not only inevitable but essential to fashioning the least-social-cost strategy to addressing climate change. The urgency for limiting climate change is inversely proportional to society's adaptability. Some limitation strategies are incompatible with adaptation goals (e.g., reducing CO2 rather than equivalent amounts of other greenhouse gases may compromise several adaptation goals) and climate change impacts -and, therefore, benefits -analysis must necessarily incorporate adaptation. The paper provides criteria for evaluating policy options, and identifies options compatible with both limitations and adaptation that would also help address current urgent problems.