Adaptation Policy Options for South East Asia

Abstract

If the predictions of the IPCC (2001a) are correct then the rates of climate change will test many of the limits of human adaptation in the decades to come. As Yohe (2000, p. 371) states, ‘the research community has long passed the point of considering adaptation in the abstract’. Where Chapter 5 used positive analysis to determine what adaptations are likely, this chapter will be a normative exercise where the key question is: What adaptations are recommended?³⁴ The chapter begins by defining climate change adaptation policy and then examining its treatment in the international context and why its stature is increasing. This is followed by a discussion of the range of methods that have been used to identify possible adaptation policy options, and whether they are likely to be implemented. Given the significance of adaptation policy, the options that are available, the modelling results and relevant discussions from previous chapters, and based on these factors recommendations are made regarding the future path for the identification of adaptation policies for SEA.