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3 - Climate Change Adaptive Capacity Assessments

Conceptual Approaches and Operational Process

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 June 2021

By
Annie Montpetit ,
Frédérik Doyon  and
Guy Chiasson
Edited by
Riyanti Djalante  and
Bernd Siebenhüner
Riyanti Djalante
Affiliation:
United Nations University, Tokyo
Bernd Siebenhüner
Affiliation:
Carl V. Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg, Germany
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Summary

Over the last decades, adaptive capacity took a greater place on the climate research agenda without receiving sufficient operational attention. There is no consensus on how to define adaptive capacity while existing definitions are often vague. This becomes a challenge when assessing the concept. The objectives of this chapter are two-fold. First, it aims at providing guidance in overcoming the challenges associated with operationalising a concept that has been influenced by different theoretical backgrounds. In order to do so, an operational process composed of three distinct steps is presented to guide future adaptive capacity assessments. Second, the chapter seeks to demonstrate how an operational definition and framework of climate change adaptive capacity that integrate multiple epistemic, spatial, and temporal dimensions can be crafted. By doing so, this chapter unveils a method to identify governance processes fostering adaptiveness as well as the attributes of governance systems enhancing capacities to adapt.

Keywords

adaptive capacityoperational frameworkclimate changeattributesdevelopment studiesresiliencevulnerability
Type
Chapter
Information
Adaptiveness: Changing Earth System Governance , pp. 50 - 68
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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