Limits to Adaptation

This commentary proposes an actor-centered, risk-based approach to defining limits to social adaptation to climate change, arguing that identifying these limits is essential for assessing potential consequences and maintaining the rationale for greenhouse gas emission reductions.

• While biophysical limits to adaptation are evident in ecological systems, such as species extinctions, there is a lack of knowledge regarding the existence, drivers, location, affected populations, and consequences of limits within social systems.
• The capacity for social actors—including governments, businesses, and individual households—to adapt may be finite. If these adaptation limits are breached, the result will be either transformational change or escalating losses.
• The determination of whether adaptation capacity is unlimited has significant policy implications; if it were unlimited, the primary justification for reducing greenhouse gas emissions would be weakened, shifting the focus toward equity concerns and the costs and benefits of adaptation.

APA

Stockholm Environment Institute (2013). Limits to Adaptation. https://www.sei.org/publications/limits-to-adaptation/

Chicago

Stockholm Environment Institute. Limits to Adaptation. 2013. https://www.sei.org/publications/limits-to-adaptation/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Stockholm Environment Institute |title=Limits to Adaptation |date=26 March 2013 |url=https://www.sei.org/publications/limits-to-adaptation/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{stockholmenvironmentinstitute2013limits, author = {{Stockholm Environment Institute}}, title = {{Limits to Adaptation}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2013}, month = mar, url = {https://www.sei.org/publications/limits-to-adaptation/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }