Effectiveness Of Adaptation Measures Research Articles

An application of dynamic programming to local adaptation decision-making

Adaptation decision-making in mountain regions necessitates dealing with uncertainties which are driven by the complex topography and the potential interconnections of stochastic events. Such events can lead to amplifying consequences for the exposed communities located at different elevations. In this study, we present a stylized application of stochastic dynamic programming for local adaptation decision-making for a small alpine community exposed to debris flows and floods. We assume that local decision-makers and planners aim at maximizing specific objectives by choosing from a feasible set of adaptation measures and under given constraints on these actions. Our results show that stochastic dynamic programming is a promising tool to address the underlying problem faced by local planners when evaluating the feasibility and effectiveness of adaptation measures. Furthermore, stochastic dynamic programming has some advantages compared to deterministic approaches which assume full knowledge of the system of interest in a world dominated by randomness. We provide an estimation of a best option and an appropriate metric to benchmark adaptation effectiveness for long time horizons. We show how multiple constraints, risk preferences, time horizons and decision periods all influence the decision-making and the overall success of adaptation responses over time.

Economic empowerment of women through climate change mitigation

This study examines the gendered component of vulnerability to climate change in Pakistan, a highly vulnerable country. Through interviews conducted in different provinces and regions, the research explores how gender influences climate change sensitivity, impacts on women, and the effectiveness of adaptation measures. The results show significant health disparities between men and women, with women suffering more from heatwaves, cold snaps, and droughts. Livestock sectors face challenges such as water and pasture scarcity, affecting rural women's livelihoods. In agriculture, women encounter economic hardships, limited resources, and social barriers, amplifying climate change's adverse effects on their livelihoods. Food and water scarcity pose critical concerns, leading to malnutrition and health risks for women. In rural areas, energy crises force women to rely on harmful fuel sources, impacting their respiratory health, while urban settings restrict women's access to essential services. The study emphasizes the need for gender-responsive policies and women's participation in climate decision-making processes to build resilient communities. Policy implications include adaptation measures, women's inclusion, investment in rural livelihood support, disaster management, and promoting gender equality in climate governance. Raising awareness and education about climate change's gendered impacts is crucial for fostering resilience.

Wearables for Measuring Health Effects of Climate Change-Induced Weather Extremes: Scoping Review.

BackgroundAlthough climate change is one of the biggest global health threats, individual-level and short-term data on direct exposure and health impacts are still scarce. Wearable electronic devices (wearables) present a potential solution to this research gap. Wearables have become widely accepted in various areas of health research for ecological momentary assessment, and some studies have used wearables in the field of climate change and health. However, these studies vary in study design, demographics, and outcome variables, and existing research has not been mapped.ObjectiveIn this review, we aimed to map existing research on wearables used to detect direct health impacts and individual exposure during climate change–induced weather extremes, such as heat waves or wildfires.MethodsWe conducted a scoping review according to the PRISMA-ScR (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews) framework and systematically searched 6 databases (PubMed [MEDLINE], IEEE Xplore, CINAHL [EBSCOhost], WoS, Scopus, Ovid [MEDLINE], and Google Scholar). The search yielded 1871 results. s and full texts were screened by 2 reviewers (MK and IM) independently using the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The inclusion criteria comprised studies published since 2010 that used off-the-shelf wearables that were neither invasive nor obtrusive to the user in the setting of climate change–related weather extremes. Data were charted using a structured form, and the study outcomes were narratively synthesized.ResultsThe review included 55,284 study participants using wearables in 53 studies. Most studies were conducted in upper–middle-income and high-income countries (50/53, 94%) in urban environments (25/53, 47%) or in a climatic chamber (19/53, 36%) and assessed the health effects of heat exposure (52/53, 98%). The majority reported adverse health effects of heat exposure on sleep, physical activity, and heart rate. The remaining studies assessed occupational heat stress or compared individual- and area-level heat exposure. In total, 26% (14/53) of studies determined that all examined wearables were valid and reliable for measuring health parameters during heat exposure when compared with standard methods.ConclusionsWearables have been used successfully in large-scale research to measure the health implications of climate change–related weather extremes. More research is needed in low-income countries and vulnerable populations with pre-existing conditions. In addition, further research could focus on the health impacts of other climate change–related conditions and the effectiveness of adaptation measures at the individual level to such weather extremes.

Yield Response of Spring Maize under Future Climate and the Effects of Adaptation Measures in Northeast China

Agriculture production has been found to be the most sensitive sector to climate change. Northeast China (NEC) is one of the world’s major regions for spring maize production and it has been affected by climate change due to increases in temperature and decreases in sunshine hours and precipitation levels over the past few decades. In this study, the CERES-Maize model-v4.7 was adopted to assess the impact of future climatic change on the yield of spring maize in NEC and the effect of adaptation measures in two future periods, the 2030s (2021 to 2040) and the 2050s (2041 to 2060) relative to the baseline (1986 to 2005) under RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 scenarios. The results showed that increased temperatures and the decreases in both the precipitation level and sunshine hours in the NEC at six representative sites in the 2030s and 2050s periods based on RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 climate scenarios would shorten the maize growth durations by (1–38 days) and this would result in a reduction in maize yield by (2.5–26.4%). Adaptation measures, including altered planting date, supplemental irrigation and use of cultivars with longer growth periods could offset some negative impacts of yield decrease in maize. For high-temperature-sensitive cultivars, the adoption of early planting, cultivar change and adding irrigation practices could lead to an increase in maize yield by 23.7–43.6% and these measures were shown to be effective adaptation options towards reducing yield loss from climate change. The simulation results exhibited the effective contribution of appropriate adaptation measures in eliminating the negative impact of future climate change on maize yield.

Accessing Insurance Flood Losses Using a Catastrophe Model and Climate Change Scenarios

Impact Forecasting has developed a catastrophe flood model for Czechia to estimate insurance losses. The model is built on a dataset of 12,066 years of daily rainfall and temperature data for the European area, representing the current climate (LAERTES-EU). This dataset was used as input to the rainfall–runoff model, resulting in a series of daily river channel discharges. Using analyses of global and regional climate models dealing with the impacts of climate change, this dataset was adjusted for the individual RCP climate scenarios in Europe. The river channel discharges were then re-derived using the already calibrated rainfall–runoff models. Based on the changed discharges, alternative versions of the standard catastrophe flood model for the Czechia were created for the various climate scenarios. In outputs, differences in severity, intensity, and number of events might be observed, as well as the size of storms. The effect on the losses might be investigated by probable maximum losses (PML) curves and average annual loss (AAL) values. For return period 1 in 5 years for the worst-case scenario, the differences can be up to +125 percent increase in insurance losses, while for the return period 1 in 100 years it is a −40 percent decrease. There is no significant effect of adaptation measures for the return period 1 in 100 years, but there is a −20 percent decrease in the return period 1 in 5 years.

Influence of the New Energy Context on the Spanish Agri-Food Industry

The Spanish agri-food industries face a new energy context radically different from the one existing less than a year ago. A comparable situation is occurring in other European countries. The great variability and different seasonality of the agro-industries condition the adaptation measures to be implemented. This article quantifies the impact of the new energy context on real industries with quite different consumption patterns. More than 1000 scenarios have been analysed to determine the effectiveness of adaptation measures. The study results demonstrate the critical situation to which the sector is subjected. The new tariff system affects the agri-food sector in an unequal way, benefiting industries with marked seasonality. In just one year, the electricity bill has increased between 62% and 151%. The savings generated by implementing measures such as optimising contracted power to a new hourly discrimination system (up to 6%) or shifting consumption to lower-cost periods (up to 21%) do not seem sufficient. If prices do not fall drastically, immediate installation of generation systems, such as photovoltaic panels, appears essential to maintain the viability and competitiveness of the sector.

Moving from adaptation capacities to implementing adaptation to extreme heat events in urban areas of the European Union: Introducing the U-ADAPT! research approach

Extreme Heat Events (EHE) are a major concern for many urban areas worldwide and are considered as one of the deadliest natural hazards globally. Climate change and socioeconomic trends (exposure and susceptibility) are expected to exacerbate the risk of urban heat stress. Several urban areas have recently declared a climate emergency and initiated the adaptation process, but progress is still patchy, uncoordinated, and of varied quality. The main constraint is the lack of mechanisms for monitoring and reporting adaptation strategies, not allowing the supervision and evaluation of the adaptation process. The EU-funded project U-ADAPT! (Urban-Adaptation) focuses on the concrete expression of adaptation to evaluate the current implementation and effectiveness of adaptation measures and strategies to reduce Heat Disaster Risk (HDR), moving the emphasis from the study of vulnerability, resilience, and potential adaptation (adaptation capacity) of communities to the actual depth and pace of the past and current adaptation process. In this article, we discuss the theoretical support and design of the project and set the base for next project stages, which ultimately aims to create a unique interdisciplinary framework and a replicable multidimensional indicator on adaptation to EHE that empower European Union citizens to demand a safe and sustainable environment and hold institutions accountable for the adaptation process to current and upcoming risks.

When can decision analysis improve climate adaptation planning? Two procedures to match analysis approaches with adaptation problems

Climate adaptation decisions are difficult because the future climate is deeply uncertain. Combined with uncertainties concerning the cost, lifetime, and effectiveness of adaptation measures, this implies that the net benefits of alternative adaptation strategies are ambiguous. On one hand, a simple analysis that disregards uncertainty might lead to near-term choices that are later regretted if future circumstances differ from those assumed. On the other hand, careful uncertainty-based decision analyses can be costly in personnel and time and might not make a difference. This paper considers two questions adaptation managers might ask. First, what type of analysis is most appropriate for a particular adaptation decision? We answer this question by proposing a six-step screening procedure to compare the usefulness of predict-then-act analysis, multi-scenario analysis without adaptive options, and multi-scenario analysis incorporating adaptive options. A tutorial application is presented using decision trees. However, this procedure may be cumbersome if managers face several adaptation problems simultaneously. Hence, a second question is how can managers quickly identify problems that would benefit most from thorough decision analysis? To address this question, we propose a procedure that ranks multiple adaptation problems in terms of the necessity and value of comprehensive analysis. Analysis can then emphasize the highest-ranking problems. This procedure is illustrated by a ranking of adaptation problems in the Chesapeake Bay region. The two complementary procedures proposed here can help managers focus analytical efforts where they will be most useful.

Drought adaptation measures and their effectiveness at Barind Tract in northwest Bangladesh: a perception study

Drought is a natural calamity frequently occurs at Barind Tract in northwest Bangladesh and affects both the human and natural life. An initiative has been taken to investigate the drought adaptation scenario practicing in Barind Tract as well as their effectiveness according to farmers’ perception. This study is mainly based on primary data collected through a structured questionnaire by surveying the farming households from ten unions of three districts in western Barind. Farmers’ perception about the effectiveness of adaptation measures has been measured using a five-point Likert scale. An indexing formula is developed to rank those measures based on their effectiveness level. The study found that several numbers of adaptation measures are practicing in Barind Tract that can be grouped into two classes: (1) adaptation measures implemented by farmers and (2) adaptation measures implemented by the Barind Multipurpose Development Authority (BMDA). Maximum measures implemented by farmers are mainly agriculture and economic activities oriented, although most of the farmers are not able to undertake proper adaptation measure by their own initiative due to lack of capacity. On the other hand, BMDA’s adaptation approaches are mainly related to development of irrigation, livelihood, food security, and environmental protection. Most of these approaches are found effective, according to farmers’ opinion. A few are found not effective mainly due to poor management and implementation. No linear relationship exists between socioeconomic characteristics of farmers and their perceptions regarding effectiveness of the measures. Exploitation of groundwater is found as the major challenge regarding future drought management. Surface water harvesting and lowering the dependency on groundwater might be the potential solution.

The Relevance and Effectiveness of Adaptation Measures in Russian and Foreign Companies

This article discusses current issues related to the adaptation of new employees in enterprises. Previously most companies did not attach serious importance to this, but over the past 20 years the use of adaptation programs as an effective personnel management tool has grown markedly in the world and Russian markets. We consider the main problems of creating and using new adaptation programs in the practice of Russian and foreign companies, because competent adaptation of personnel allows us to simplify the comfortable entry of new employees into the team and to ensure increased labor productivity. As a result of creating favorable psychological and social conditions, the goals of an individual person and the entire professional group come closer together.

Simulation of the thermal comfort conditions of urban areas: a case study in Kyiv

Formulation of the problem. Studies of bioclimate of a territory are aimed at determining the favorable and adverse impacts of various climatic factors and their combinations on the human body. Complex urban morphology has a significant impact on microclimate and, accordingly, on thermal comfort of a person in such an environment. The height of buildings, street orientation, and distance between buildings alter the solar energy inlet, affect thermal regime, transform the wind speed and direction at the street level. Studies of the bioclimatic conditions of urban areas during the warm season are highly relevant as they provide an opportunity to evaluate human thermal sensations in the city, as well as the potential effectiveness of adaptation measures to heat stress (architectural measures and measures based on the use of green areas and water bodies). The purpose of the article. The aim of this research is to simulate the bioclimate of an urban environment to determine the human thermal load in summer months based on modern bioclimatic indices and software. Methods. For the purpose of this study, a part of the territory of the Osokorky residential area of Kyiv was selected. To get values of the main meteorological parameters of the researched area, a three-dimensional, prognostic, microscale model ENVI-met was used. ENVI-met pertains to the CFD-models (computation fluid dynamics model) and is designed for microscales with a horizontal resolution from 0.5 to 10 m and with a time step of 10 seconds as maximum. The PET calculation was performed using the RayMan model. Results. A clear hot summer day (04 August 2017) was chosen for the simulation. The simulation was performed from 6:00 EEST on 4 August till 6:00 EEST the next day (output interval – 1 hour). The simulation results show that the values of the main meteorological parameters (air temperature and humidity, wind characteristics) and physiologically equivalent temperature differ significantly within urban spaces, even across small areas. The amplitudes of PET value were maximum in the daytime and made 12°–15°C. The decrease in the amplitude of the air temperature within the researched area in the evening and night hours led to a notable decrease in the PET amplitude to 2°–3°C. The analysis of the simulated PET values for the researched area confirmed that the residents of the urban areas experience the most intense heat stress while staying in the open asphalted areas during the daytime. The duration of the period with comfortable conditions during the researched day was very short – from 22:00 EEST through midnight. The range of the daily course of PET values at different points of the researched area varied from 19.4° (at point No. 7) to 37.1°C (at point No. 5 located in the well courtyard). Based on the PET values simulated for the researched area and for CAWS Kyiv was found the significant differences between thermal comfort conditions within the complex urban spaces and at the weather station. Therefore, the values of bioclimatic indices simulated based on the weather station data can not be applied with any approximation to solve scientific and applied tasks that require information on the bioclimate at particular points in the urbanized environment. To solve such tasks, it is recommended to apply modern methods – ENVI-met and RayMan models. Scientific novelty and practical significance. For the first time in Ukraine, microclimate and thermal comfort conditions within the complex urban environment has been simulated using ENVI-met and RayMan models. The results of such simulation can be used to choose heat adaptation measures which would help to increase the comfort of the urban areas. The simulation of microclimate and thermal comfort conditions of some parts of the city territory is important stage of design of the buildings, in order to choose the optimal location for buildings and trees and to create the most comfortable conditions for people.

Assessing the Cost of Damage and Effect of Adaptation to Landslides Considering Climate Change

The amount of damage caused by landslides has increased due to climate change. Adaptation plans are required to help cope with landslides in order to reduce the extent of the damage. Landslide hazard analysis can help create adaptation plans. Analyzing the cost of damage of and the effect of adaptation to landslides is an effective way to support decision makers. The cost of damage is calculated using the costs of damage incurred in residential and transportation areas in the past, based on data from annual reports. Spatial distribution models are used to analyze landslide hazard areas in the present and the future. Future or potential landslide hazards are estimated by using climate change scenarios through representative concentration pathways. The effects of adaptation measures are assessed using modified variables and a cost-benefit analysis. The uncertainty of the cost of damage is considered using average, minimum, and maximum values. As a result, the methods used to estimate future costs of damage are developed, and the effects of adaptation are analyzed. The future cost of damage is calculated for every climate change scenario. The effect of adaptation are analyzed and areas with a reduced risk of landslides are identified, reducing the cost of damage and adaptation costs, as well as the costs and benefits of adaptation measures. Improving soil drainage is the most effective measure among the four measures analyzed. This study can help estimate future costs of damage and analyze the effect of adaptation in creating effective adaptation plans.

Potential Impacts of Climate Change and Adaptation on Maize in Northeast China

Core Ideas The CERES‐Maize model was applied to estimate the impacts of climate change under RCP scenarios and the effectiveness of three typical adaptation measures for maize production in Northeast China. Maize yield would decline under the future climatic conditions if no adaptation measures were adopted. Changing planting dates, switching to later‐maturing cultivars and breeding new cultivars could mitigate the negative impacts of climate change to varying degrees. Northeast China (NEC) is an important region for maize (Zea mays L.) production in China, and is the country's most significant commercial food base. However, NEC is also one of the areas that are most significantly affected by climate change in this country. Maize is sensitive to climatic changes, and to develop effective strategies for guaranteeing regional food security, it is essential to understand the mechanisms of the impacts of climate change and the effectiveness of adaptation measures in NEC. In this study, the Crop‐Environment Resource Synthesis (CERES)‐Maize v4.5 model, coupled with newly released data for Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) scenarios, RCP4.5 and RCP8.5, was applied to simulate maize yields for future periods (2020s, 2050s, and 2080s) and to estimate the effect of CO2 fertilization and the effectiveness of three typical adaptation measures for maize production in NEC. The results indicated a trend of a continuing decline in maize yield for both RCP scenarios, and the decrease in maize yield under RCP8.5 was predicted to be greater than that under RCP4.5. The effect of CO2 fertilization was forecast to be too small to offset the negative impacts of climate change. Three adaptation measures—changing planting dates, switching to later‐maturing cultivars, and breeding new cultivars with high thermal time requirements—could mitigate negative climate change impacts to varying degrees; switching cultivars may exert the most significant effect on increasing maize yields.

The effects of adaptation measures on hurricane induced property losses: Which FEMA investments have the highest returns?

This paper evaluates the relative effectiveness of FEMA expenditures on hurricane induced property losses. We find that spending on FEMA ex-ante mitigation and planning projects leads to greater reductions in property losses than spending on ex-post adaptation programs – specifically, a one percent increase in annual spending on ex-ante risk reduction and warning projects reduces damages by 0.21 percent while a one percent increase in ex-post recovery and clean-up spending reduces damages by 0.12. Although both types of program spending are effective, we find the marginal return from spending on programs that target long-term mitigation and risk management to be almost twice that of spending on ex-post recovery programs. With the predicted increases in the frequency and severity of North Atlantic hurricanes in the future, our findings suggest there are important potential gains that could be realized from the further diversification of FEMA spending across project categories.

Adaptation Planning Support Toolbox: Measurable performance information based tools for co-creation of resilient, ecosystem-based urban plans with urban designers, decision-makers and stakeholders

Currently, most tools, guidelines and benchmarks for urban adaptation raise awareness on climate change impacts, assess the city’s vulnerability and/or address the need for adaptation on a policy-level. However, tools that have the ability to implement adaptation solutions in the actual urban planning and design practice seem to be missing. We developed and tested the Adaptation Planning Support Toolbox (APST) to fill this gap. This toolbox supports local policymakers, planners, designers and practitioners in defining the program of demands, in setting adaptation targets, in selecting from more than 60 blue, green and grey adaptation measures and with informed co-creation of conceptual adaptation plans. The APST provides quantitative, evidence-based performance information on (cost)effectiveness of adaptation measures regarding climate resilience and co-benefits. The APST can be used design workshops, to feed dialogues among stakeholders on where and how which ecosystem-based adaptation measures can be applied. Applications of the AST in various settings and context in cities on different continents have illustrated the added value of the toolbox in bringing policy and practice together with help of science. With more and more cities worldwide that will make the step from policymaking to actual adaptation-inclusive urban (re)development practice we foresee a growing demand for such tools.

The potential role of urban green areas for controlling ground surface and subsurface warming

Subsurface warming in urban areas is higher in magnitude than increases in surface air temperatures. However, little evidence exists on the effects of urbanization on subsurface environments, and there are few quantitative estimates of the effectiveness of adaptation measures. We analyzed the relationship between ground surface warming and the extent of landscape change using subsurface temperature anomalies as an indicator of surface warming in five urban areas in Japan. To interpret these results for urban planning, we presented the percentages of green areas that would be needed to achieve certain reductions in ground surface temperatures for areas with different urbanization levels. Accordingly, a 0.5 °C reduction in average ground surface temperatures can be achieved by an increased Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) value of 0.035, which accounts for approximately a 17% increase in natural green areas in an area with 75% urbanization. This study provides quantitative estimates to cope with urban warming at the local scale in the face of climate change.

The Effects of Adaptation Measures on Hurricane Induced Property Losses

Escalating costs of hurricane disasters in recent decades heighten public and private concern. Federal government spends millions of dollars annually in the form of hazard mitigation and public assistance grants to help impacted communities recover. Without empirical evidence, we can say little about how effective these programs are in terms of promoting local resilience. In the paper, we investigate the roles of adaptation and mitigation in reducing economic impacts of hurricanes in terms of property loss. We conduct an empirical study of property damage in 864 counties along the Atlantic basin during 1989-2009. Controlling for important drivers of property losses given by hazard incidents, economic and population growth as well as socio-economic vulnerability, we contribute to the existing literature by explicitly accounting for a wide range of public and local adaptation measures. Our results suggest that physical and socio-economic vulnerability are primary factors explaining high damages from hurricanes. We find clear evidence of the importance of regulatory-based loss mitigation strategies as exhibited by improved building codes and effectiveness of enforcement. Results suggest that where to build (zoning, land-use planning, etc.) is a significant policy complimented by how to build (building codes, retrofitting, etc.). Major structural and infrastructural projects were found to exacerbate property losses suggesting evidence of moral hazard, induced development or protective capacity limits of structural measures. Overall, the most efficient disaster loss mitigation strategy entails coordinated actions of federal and local government coupled with private self-insurance initiatives and is highly skewed towards non-structural projects.

Assessing institutional capacities to adapt to climate change: integrating psychological dimensions in the Adaptive Capacity Wheel

Abstract. Several case studies show that social factors like institutions, perceptions and social capital strongly affect social capacities to adapt to climate change. Together with economic and technological development they are important for building social capacities. However, there are almost no methodologies for the systematic assessment of social factors. After reviewing existing methodologies we identify the Adaptive Capacity Wheel (ACW) by Gupta et al. (2010), developed for assessing the adaptive capacity of institutions, as the most comprehensive and operationalised framework to assess social factors. The ACW differentiates 22 criteria to assess 6 dimensions: variety, learning capacity, room for autonomous change, leadership, availability of resources, fair governance. To include important psychological factors we extended the ACW by two dimensions: "adaptation motivation" refers to actors' motivation to realise, support and/or promote adaptation to climate; "adaptation belief" refers to actors' perceptions of realisability and effectiveness of adaptation measures. We applied the extended ACW to assess adaptive capacities of four sectors – water management, flood/coastal protection, civil protection and regional planning – in northwestern Germany. The assessments of adaptation motivation and belief provided a clear added value. The results also revealed some methodological problems in applying the ACW (e.g. overlap of dimensions), for which we propose methodological solutions.

Niche-based responses in addressing the climatic constraints to farm production: analogues to climate-change adaptation in Nepal

Climate change continues to threaten the lives and livelihoods of small farmers of Nepal. Given the importance of Nepal's agriculture to the nation's economy, potential impacts of climate variability and change on national food security is a cause for concern. Notwithstanding this challenge, efforts are being made to identify the climate-change impacts on agriculture and actions that farmers and their supporting institutions can take to adapt. The repository of local agro-ecological knowledge available across Nepalese communities is worth exploring. This study, through analysis of four examples of innovative agricultural practices – referred to here as niche-based, details the responses of farmers and their supporting institutions to climatic limitations in Nepal. We identify and synthesize commonalities of the four case studies that may be integral to climate-change adaptation as: (1) the need for participation, flexibility and integration of all stakeholders in the process of innovating adaptation technologies; and (2) the potential for farmers (end-users) and their supporting institutions to take on more leadership and responsibility to sustain the effectiveness of adaptation measures.

Adaptation Planning and Climate Impact Assessments: Learning from NEPA's Flaws

As we begin to design climate adaptation into our institutions, we should be careful to learn from past failures rather than repeating them. After almost four decades, we have had many opportunities to see NEPA's system of environmental assessment in action. We can do better in approaching climate adaptation assessment. We can learn five valuable lessons from NEPA's shortcomings: (1) Assessment of climate impacts and adaptation needs must be an integral part of the agency's decision making process, not an afterthought as is too often the case for environmental assessments. (2) Climate impact assessments should be available on-line and linked with GIS systems. (3) Formal follow-up mechanisms must be institutionalized, and information about the effectiveness of adaptation measures must be readily available on-line. (4) Planning should consider a range of potential adaptation scenarios to identify robust adaptation measures. (5) To ensure that agencies adopt a proactive approach to adaptation, mechanisms such as a prize process should be used to ensure that adaptation needs are identified, rather than having adaptation considered only when specific projects are on the agency's agenda.