This paper highlights approaches that can help to prepare for, or reduce the harm from, the effects of climate change. As adaptation moves from theory to practice, there is growing recognition that barriers may make it difficult for individuals, businesses, and governments to plan and implement adaptation actions. These involve a variety of issues, especially for long-term decisions, and include economic, political economy, and governance challenges.
Approaches to overcome these hurdles include interventions to address market, governance, and policy failures; the use of iterative adaptation approaches that allow learning from experience; and the mainstreaming of adaptation into development. This review touches on the economics, political economy, and behavioral science of long-term development decision-making and the possibility for integrating measures to deal with future climate change.