What is adaptation?

In the coming decades Victoria can expect:

• increased temperatures
• drier conditions
• more frequent extreme events such as extreme rainfall, bushfires and droughts.

Despite global and local efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, some level of climate change is now inevitable. We need to adapt the way we do things to maintain Victoria's social, environmental and economic wellbeing.

Adapting to climate change means taking action to manage or reduce the consequences of a hotter, drier and more extreme climate. It also involves taking advantage of the opportunities these changes may present.

Ways to adapt

Adaptation can take many different forms.

It includes:

• education and training about climate change
• planning emergency responses for more severe extreme weather events
• revising planning standards for vulnerable areas
• developing technical and scientific solutions, such as drought-resistant crops or increasing thermal performance standards for buildings.

Adaptation also involves actively managing our environment to improve the resilience of key natural resources like water catchments.

Benefits of acting now

It makes sense to act now, because we get immediate benefits as well as reducing the cost and extent of remedial action in the future. For example, improving water efficiency provides benefits now, but also prepares us for times when there is less water available.

Preparing for climate change is not something that governments can do alone - it is a shared responsibility that requires partnerships across the community so that individuals, businesses, communities and governments can prepare effectively and efficiently.

Find out more

Find out more about the adaptation actions the Victorian Government is taking in response to climate change:

• Future coasts
• Research and innovation