The 2023 International Joint Initiative for Research in Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation call aims to further the design and implementation of co-produced adaptation and mitigation strategies for vulnerable groups―those groups currently most impacted by the effects of climate change owing to both physical vulnerability (heightened exposure to events related to climate change and/or poor infrastructure) and socioeconomic vulnerability (limited resources to prepare for or respond to the impacts of climate change, including knowledge, technology or financial resources, or owing to conflict, security and fragility).
Adaptive measures and mitigation strategies require physical infrastructure and nature-based solutions, as well as social, health and cultural interventions that are aligned with the community’s values. The effective planning and implementation of strategies also depend on enabling conditions, as identified by the Sixth Assessment IPCC reports: effective governance; adequate financing; buy-in from the community; and knowledge, which includes institutional capacity; science, technology and innovation; climate services; big data; and co-production (including Indigenous/local knowledge and boundary organizations). When these enabling conditions are absent, insufficient (in the case of funding), ineffective (in the case of governance) or resisted (in the case of imposed strategies), effective change is impeded.
The eight representative key risks from the Sixth Assessment IPCC reports are the following:
- Risks to low-lying coastal socio-ecological systems
- Risks to terrestrial and ocean ecosystems
- Risks associated with critical physical infrastructure, networks, and services
- Risks to living standards
- Risks to human health
- Risks to food security
- Risks to water security
- Risks to peace and to human mobility
