Reframing climate adaptation and societal collapse: governance pathways for systemic risk in the Anthropocene

Climate change is not a discrete hazard but a systemic risk capable of destabilizing socio-ecological systems and accelerating trajectories toward societal collapse. We argue that prevailing adaptation strategies, fragmented, technocratic, and incremental. Are failing as they are insufficient under conditions of compounding shocks and cascading failures. Adaptation must be reframed as a systemic survival strategy grounded in governance, equity and reflexivity. This Perspective advances three propositions: (1) Collapse is a process shaped by governance choices; (2) Adaptation is inherently political and must embed justice; and (3) Systemic integration of climate change adaptation (CCA) with disaster risk reduction (DRR) is essential to anticipate tipping dynamics. We argue for option-preserving policies, participatory governance and nature-based solutions to interrupt reinforcing feedbacks and sustain social cohesion. Without these shifts, adaptation risks becoming a pathway to maladaptation and social fracture rather than resilience.