Reducing the risk of maladaptation in response to sea-level rise and urban water scarcity

Defining “successful adaptation” is exceedingly difficult, because whether an adaptation is a success or not is ultimately determined by whether or not it has reduced the amount of loss or damage that may have arisen from climate change in the absence of adaptation. So, the counterfactual outcome is hard to determine. Adding to the difficulties are problems in delimiting the spatial and temporal scales at which success is to be measured, determining for whom success matters, discounting of costs, and factoring in uncertainties (Adger et al. 2005).