Managing adaptation

Risk based approaches to climate adaptation are now widely used around the world – in order to realise the full potential of the UKCIP Risk Framework as a decision support tool, it is important to reflect on our experience in applying the framework and pass on that learning.

We provide organisations with guidance on how to initiate a decision-making process to help them to go beyond raising awareness to undertaking assessments, which then lead to the implementation of practical adaptation actions. This guidance will continue to develop as our work with stakeholders grows.

This guidance discusses key issues that should be considered when making the transition from awareness to action. It is aimed at anyone undertaking a climate change risk based assessment as part of an adaptation work programme and emphasises the importance of the scoping phase. Some of the most important decisions and judgements are made during this phase, and these can profoundly influence the depth of an assessment and the shape of subsequent work. If this process is not examined in depth, assumptions can be made which strongly influence the outcomes, or create fixed routes which limit the flexibility of adaptive planning.

This document can be read as a stand-alone piece, or in conjunction with stages 1 and 2 of UKCIP’s Risk Framework.