While governments may take the lead in planning and financing climate change adaptation measures, such as incentivizing green infrastructure, individuals currently are most often the ones implementing actions to adapt to climate change, according to new research.
While governments may take the lead in planning and financing climate change adaptation measures, such as incentivizing green infrastructure, individuals currently are most often the ones implementing actions to adapt to climate change, according to new research. The analysis, conducted by an international consortium of researchers from 20 institutions, including Penn State, in 12 countries, published in Nature Climate Change.
“The evidence suggests that individuals and households are the primary adaptation actors — the ones actually implementing ways to adapt to the changes wrought by climate change,” said study co-author Christine Kirchhoff, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering and of law, policy and engineering at Penn State. “Geographically, in higher income countries, the government may begin to take the lead in planning or financing, but individuals are the ones taking action on the ground.”
Adaptations taken by individuals include planting crops more resilient to extreme weather, moving away from areas more directly impacted by storms and flooding, and implementing behavioral changes — such as changing their outdoor working hours to cooler parts of the day, among other actions.
Read more at: Penn State University
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