Welcome to Making Climate Adaptation Happen

Welcome! We are so glad that you have taken up the challenge to learn more about climate change adaptation governance.

In this four-week course we will guide you in learning about the science behind climate change, the effects on the environment and society, the organisation of climate governance, finance for climate adaptation and nature-based solutions. You will not only read and listen, but we sincerely hope that you will also actively engage with us and your fellow learners in the discussions. You can also independently check your progress by using our quizzes.

This is what we will deal with during the four weeks of the course

• Week 1: Introduction to climate science and adaptation to climate change
• Week 2: How climate adaptation governance is implemented
• Week 3: Climate adaptation finance
• Week 4: Nature-based solutions and locally-led actions

What will you learn?

At the end of the course you should be able to:

• Describe the natural science background of climate impacts and climate adaptation based on scientific facts and terminology
• Summarise the historical development of the global governance architecture for climate adaptation
• Identify relevant governance and social science theories in the context of climate adaptation
• Reflect on the role of international climate finance for climate adaptation
• Assess climate adaptation governance from an integrated and global vantage point

This week

This week you will get an overview of the causes and the effects of climate change. Climate change is already happening, and greenhouse gases linger in the atmosphere for many years. So even if greenhouse gas emissions would stop today, climate change will continue to affect future generations. In this way, humanity is “committed” to respond and adjust to some level of climate change for many years to come. A two-pronged approach is needed:

• Reducing emissions and stabilizing the levels of heat-trapping greenhouse gases in the atmosphere (called “climate mitigation”);
• Adapting to the climate change already happening (or in the pipeline) (“climate adaptation”).

This course will focus on past development and opportunities in climate adaptation governance and you will explore answers to the question Why should governments adapt to climate change?.

Share with others

We are looking forward to your contributions in the comment sections. Also, consider joining us on social media to build the debate. For those of you who use Twitter, the hashtag #FLglobaladaptation will help you to share ideas and experiences of the course.

Ready to begin?

So, are you curious who you will be learning with and meet the educators of this course? To get started, click on the pink ‘Mark as complete’ button, below (this will help you keep track of your progress through the course) and then click ‘Introductions’ to move on to Step 1.2.