ADAPT NOW: A GLOBAL CALL FOR LEADERSHIP ON CLIMATE RESILIENCE

The Global Commission on Adaptation's report, 'Adapt Now', presents climate adaptation as a human, environmental, and economic imperative. It argues that current responses are insufficient and calls for a 'triple dividend' approach—avoiding losses, gaining economic productivity, and securing social-environmental benefits. The report details specific strategies for food security, natural environments, water management, urban areas, infrastructure, and disaster risk management, while proposing a 15-month 'Year of Action' to jump-start these transitions through eight dedicated Action Tracks.

• Investing in climate adaptation can yield high economic returns, with benefit-cost ratios typically ranging from 2:1 to 10:1.
• A targeted global investment of $1.8 trillion in five key areas between 2020 and 2030—early warning systems, resilient infrastructure, dryland agriculture, mangrove protection, and water resource resilience—could generate $7.1 trillion in total net benefits.
• Climate change threatens global food security, with potential declines in global agriculture yields of up to 30 percent by 2050 if adaptation is not pursued.
• Water scarcity is projected to increase significantly, with the number of people lacking sufficient water for at least one month per year expected to rise from 3.6 billion today to over 5 billion by 2050.
• Coastal urban areas face severe risks from rising seas and storm surges, with potential annual costs exceeding $1 trillion by 2050 and the displacement of hundreds of millions of people.
• Nature-based solutions are highly cost-effective; for example, restoring mangrove forests to protect against storm surges is two to five times cheaper than building engineered structures.
• Climate-proofing infrastructure is economically sound, as the benefits of making new infrastructure resilient generally outweigh the costs by a ratio of 4:1.
• Early warning systems provide immense value, where a 24-hour warning for a storm or heat wave can reduce ensuing damage by 30 percent, and an $800 million investment in developing countries could avoid $3–16 billion in annual losses.
• The report identifies a 'triple dividend' of adaptation: avoided losses, positive economic benefits (increased productivity and innovation), and social and environmental benefits.
• Gender inequality exacerbates climate vulnerability, as women often have less access to land rights, fertilizers, and technical assistance; equal access to productive resources could increase women's yields by 20–30 percent.

APA

World Resources Institute (2019). ADAPT NOW: A GLOBAL CALL FOR LEADERSHIP ON CLIMATE RESILIENCE. https://files.wri.org/s3fs-public/uploads/GlobalCommission_Report_FINAL.pdf?8xMMKyOMped05GsUrXZQoTc8NlI3VbHu

Chicago

World Resources Institute. ADAPT NOW: A GLOBAL CALL FOR LEADERSHIP ON CLIMATE RESILIENCE. 2019. https://files.wri.org/s3fs-public/uploads/GlobalCommission_Report_FINAL.pdf?8xMMKyOMped05GsUrXZQoTc8NlI3VbHu.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Resources Institute |title=ADAPT NOW: A GLOBAL CALL FOR LEADERSHIP ON CLIMATE RESILIENCE |date=2019 |url=https://files.wri.org/s3fs-public/uploads/GlobalCommission_Report_FINAL.pdf?8xMMKyOMped05GsUrXZQoTc8NlI3VbHu |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldresourcesinstitute2019adapt, author = {{World Resources Institute}}, title = {{ADAPT NOW: A GLOBAL CALL FOR LEADERSHIP ON CLIMATE RESILIENCE}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, year = {2019}, url = {https://files.wri.org/s3fs-public/uploads/GlobalCommission_Report_FINAL.pdf?8xMMKyOMped05GsUrXZQoTc8NlI3VbHu}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }