What does ‘adaptation’ mean in climate change policy?

Correct answer: Adjusting to actual or expected climate impacts. Adaptation means adjusting to actual or expected climate impacts.

Background: Examples include flood-resistant infrastructure, drought-resistant crops, better water management and early-warning systems.

• Increasing industrial emissions: Increasing emissions would worsen climate change.
• Eliminating international trade: Ending international trade is not a climate policy.
• Replacing all agricultural land: Replacing all farmland is not what adaptation means; it adjusts farming to new conditions.

Did you know? Adaptation matters most for countries already facing floods, heatwaves and droughts.

Memory trick: Adaptation = Adjust.