Adaptation to climate change, the topic of today at Cop26 in Glasgow, is how countries and communities adapt to the consequences of the climate crisis.
This is different from climate change mitigation.
Mitigation seeks to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, adaptation seeks to reduce the damage of heating.
These damages are desertification, droughts, heat waves, and on the other hand cyclones, floods, floods, sea level rise.
Adaptation measures are reforestation, to increase CO2 absorption and consolidate soils; construction of basins to collect water and canals and aqueducts to distribute it; study of new drought-resistant seeds; construction of embankments and protections against floods and rising seas; heat wave protection, including air conditioning systems; displacement of communities and infrastructures from the most threatened areas; damage insurance; strengthening of meteorological services for forecasting events and civil protection services for rescue interventions.
The UN Climate Convention, the UNFCC (which organizes the COP) manages an Adaptation Fund established by the Kyoto Protocol to help less developed countries adapt to the consequences of the climate crisis.
Today in Glasgow, the representatives of the least developed countries have asked for more financial support from the rich ones, and have complained that they in public promise to commit more, and then in the secret of the negotiations they do not keep the commitments.
