Principles of good adaptation

A changing climate is one of many factors that will shape future societies, alongside technological advances, changes in the population, the economy, the political arena, legislation and other environmental changes. To be sustainable, adaptation planning needs to be flexible enough to take these types of changes into account. The Climate Change Committee provided 10 principles for good adaptation in its Third Climate Change Risk Assessment. These principles help define the elements of robust adaptation decision-making needed to realise a well-adapted UK in a fair way.

The 10 principles are:

1. A vision for a well-adapted UK

2. Integrate adaptation policies into other policies

3. Adapt to 2 degree Celsius; assess for the risks of 4 degree Celsius

4. Avoid lock-in

5. Prepare for unpredictable extremes

6. Assess interdependencies

7. Understand threshold effects

8. Address inequalities

9. Consider opportunities

10. Funding, resourcing, metrics, research

You can find out more about these 10 principles here.