Towards successful adaptation: a checklist for the development of climate change adaptation plans

The authors develop a comprehensive checklist to guide the creation of climate change adaptation plans, addressing the lack of consistent metrics in adaptation tracking. The framework is organized into three major areas: Policy and Economy, Science and Learning, and Legitimacy. Within these, it evaluates components such as funding, institutional reliability, usable knowledge, monitoring, evaluation and reporting (MER), adaptive management, and equity. The goal is to move beyond simply documenting the existence of policies toward assessing their credibility and potential for successful implementation.

• The authors identify three primary areas that climate change adaptation plans must focus on to be successful: policy and economy, science and learning, and legitimacy.
• The 'Policy and Economy' area of the checklist emphasizes the necessity of assigned budgets and institutional reliability, arguing that a plan without economic resources for implementation and monitoring lacks credibility.
• The 'Science and Learning' area requires the use of contextualized evidence, the establishment of Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting (MER) systems, and the adoption of adaptive management to allow for iterative strategy modification in response to uncertainty.
• Legitimacy is presented as a critical pillar of successful adaptation, requiring transparency in policy and scientific processes, stakeholder engagement, and the integration of equity and justice to address distributive impacts on marginalized groups.
• The document notes a significant deficiency in adaptation tracking compared to mitigation, specifically a lack of agreed metrics, comparable baselines, and standardized data collection.
• The authors suggest that this checklist can serve as the foundation for a 'climate adaptation policy credibility index' to act as a proxy for successful adaptation.

APA

Olazabal, M., Galarraga, I., Ford, J., Lesnikowski, A., & de Murieta, E. S. (2017). Towards successful adaptation: a checklist for the development of climate change adaptation plans. Basque Centre for Climate Change. https://www.bc3research.org/h6T8Uy8Nm4gFs0O/201705100318151258441785.pdf

Chicago

Olazabal, Marta, Ibon Galarraga, James Ford, Alexandra Lesnikowski, and Elisa Sainz de Murieta. Towards successful adaptation: a checklist for the development of climate change adaptation plans. Basque Centre for Climate Change, 2017. https://www.bc3research.org/h6T8Uy8Nm4gFs0O/201705100318151258441785.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Olazabal |first1=Marta |last2=Galarraga |first2=Ibon |last3=Ford |first3=James |last4=Lesnikowski |first4=Alexandra |last5=de Murieta |first5=Elisa Sainz |title=Towards successful adaptation: a checklist for the development of climate change adaptation plans |publisher=Basque Centre for Climate Change |date=April 2017 |url=https://www.bc3research.org/h6T8Uy8Nm4gFs0O/201705100318151258441785.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{olazabal2017towards, author = {Olazabal, Marta and Galarraga, Ibon and Ford, James and Lesnikowski, Alexandra and de Murieta, Elisa Sainz}, title = {{Towards successful adaptation: a checklist for the development of climate change adaptation plans}}, institution = {Basque Centre for Climate Change}, year = {2017}, month = apr, url = {https://www.bc3research.org/h6T8Uy8Nm4gFs0O/201705100318151258441785.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }