Stage 6.1 Is there enough information to design and implement adaptation measures?
Who's Involved
- Assignment Management Team and senior energy sector decision-makers
Timing and time required
- About eight weeks after ‘Climate risk management and cost benefit analysis’ workshop
- 1 day
Key questions
- Is there enough information to make decisions about which adaptation measures should be implemented?
- Does the manner in which risk and uncertainty was accounted for allow for robust decision-making?
- Do the adaptation measures have implications for other decision-makers?
- Have any ‘no-regrets’ adaptation measures been identified?
- No regret’ options deliver benefits that exceed their costs, whatever the extent of climate change. While they are unlikely to be cost-free, implementing them will help with managing present-day risk and should provide increasing benefits as climate change intensifies.
Tools
- Report describing outputs of risk assessments, identification of adaptation options and CBA
Guidance
- As stated under the Overview and toolkit instructions, working through this risk-based process should provide high-level (semi-quantitative) assessments of key risks and adaptation options for the energy sector.
- Stage 4.1 will have identified a wide range of possible adaptation measures, including informational, institutional and physical / technical actions.
- The cost-benefit analysis will have compared a number of these options, though it is unlikely to have assessed every one of them. For instance, it may have focused on comparing options to fill the energy demand-supply gap due to climate change, such as new energy generation assets, opportunities for regional trade, and ways of reducing energy demand.
- At this point, senior energy-sector decision-makers should meet to discuss and make decisions about which measures will be implemented.
- If there is insufficient information available from the high-level assessment, it may be necessary to return to Stage 3.4 and undertake more in-depth analysis before final decisions can be reached.
- Remember that certain measures, namely ‘no regret’, ‘low regret’, ‘win win’ and flexible measures (see Stage 4.1) are particularly useful in the face of climate change uncertainties.
- For some risks, the decision may be taken that no adaptation will be undertaken at the present time. This may be because of lack of availability of funds, because the measure can not be justified economically, or because there is insufficient evidence to justify adaptation. In these cases, it will be important to continue to monitor climate impacts on energy sector performance, as adaptation measures may be needed in the future (see Stage 8.1).
- At the conclusion of this stage, decision-makers should produce an Adaptation Strategy and Workplan for implementation of the agreed adaptation measures.
Outputs
- Adaptation Strategy and Workplan for implementing adaptation measures.