The opportunities and challenges of developing and implementing local climate adaptation targets

Abstract

Climate adaptation policies have been developed at global, national and local levels, however, significant implementation gaps persist. Adaptation targets – achieved through metrics to assess the effectiveness of an adaptation action or policy – offer a potential solution to improve implementation. If adaptation actions can be compared and tracked, it should be possible to identify which actions are most effective, where more support is needed, the extent to which vulnerabilities are addressed, and evidence what progress is made. Despite this potential, the development and delivery of adaptation targets has been challenging because: (1) adaptation is context-specific - a target in one place may not be suitable in another; and (2) there is often a lack of clarity over how metrics should be designed. We aim to stimulate debate in this area through development of guiding principles for creating climate adaptation targets. These principles aim to increase the robustness of targets through the lens of equity and vulnerability as well as highlighting some key challenges and limitations in the development and implementation of adaptation targets at the local level.