We found that a climate change adaptation plan must include an array of climate change-related risks and consider multiple factors in ways that extend beyond the reach of a single discipline. We also identified three important dimensions of a fully integrated climate change adaptation planning process, namely, integration in assessment, integration in modelling, and integration in adaptive responses.
Further, adaptation plans need to provide an integration of different assessments and modelling outcomes that span engineering, ecological and social discipline, among many others. Therefore, adopting an integrated and holistic approach is more likely to produce better climate change adaptation outcomes over the long term. An integrated stepwise planning approach by involving multidisciplinary teams is a critical requirement for effective climate change adaptation in the context of small island developing states and coastal communities.
These multidisciplinary teams should include experts on:
- regional ocean and coastal processes;
- engineering;
- ecological and ecosystems dynamics;
- climate impact analysis;
- economic valuation;
- the social sciences; and,
- integrative system modelling, scenario analysis, and decision support.
