Adaptation to climate change featured very prominently during the Bali UN climate conference in December 2007. Given the accelerating threats of climate change in particular for developing countries, immediately increased adaptation efforts are needed. Now, after agreeing the Bali Roadmap with the objective to finalise a new international climate change agreement by 2009, it is time to assess the state of knowledge on key questions which arise from the Bali Roadmap. These include aspects like a streamlined definition of adaptation, the scale of, the responsibility for and the instruments to generate increased funding, but also questions of decision-making structures. The upcoming negotiations will have to address these questions, in addition to those related to mitigation efforts in order to avoid dangerous climate change.
This briefing paper analyses the decisions taken in Bali and discusses relevant questions with regard to adaptation for the upcoming negotations, starting with the Bangkok Climate Change Talks held in early April 2008.
