Adaptation & Geoengineering

Other policy responses include adaptation to climate change. Adaptation to climate change may be planned, e.g., by local or national government, or spontaneous, i.e., done privately without government intervention. The ability to adapt is closely linked to social and economic development. Even societies with high capacities to adapt are still vulnerable to climate change. Planned adaptation is already occurring on a limited basis. The barriers, limits, and costs of future adaptation are not fully understood.

Another policy response is engineering of the climate (geoengineering). This policy response is sometimes grouped together with mitigation. Geoengineering is largely unproven, and reliable cost estimates for it have not yet been published. Geoengineering encompasses a range of techniques to remove CO₂ from the atmosphere or to block incoming sunlight.