Integrating adaptation into policy: upscaling evidence from local to global

Historically, climate change has been viewed as an environmental pollution issue with international agreements narrowly focused on mitigation, while neglecting other responses including adaptation. This article discusses barriers and opportunities for the upscaling of adaptation into the international policy arena. It argues for the development of global adaptation models accounting for actual adaptation actions; for the refinement of processes that lead to adaptation; and for the accumulation of evidence from a growing number of adaptation case studies. A new challenge for adaptation science will be to integrate adaptation into the next phases of mitigation and development policy.