This WASP brief looks at transboundary climate risk and adaptation. The Science for Adaptation Policy Brief Series targets researchers, policymakers, and practitioners to help them bridge the science-policy-action interface.
Key messages
• Adaptation science should support the policy community to adopt a transboundary lens to better manage the systemic nature of climate risk.
• Adaptation is not (just) local or national – it can also be regional or global, it requires scientific knowledge and cooperation at all scales, and should be recognized as delivering, in some cases, global public goods.
• Adaptation is not necessarily benign – it can redistribute vulnerability and create or magnify risk for others, especially across borders.
• Adapting to transboundary climate risk falls between the remits of government departments and national jurisdictions and ends up being “no-one’s job” – analysis is needed to support solutions at various scales.