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17.3. Vulnerability and Adaptation Potential
17.3.1. Setting the Context
The potential impacts of climate change on small island states discussed in
Section 17.2 have given rise to considerable concern.
Relevant chapters in the First Assessment Report (FAR; Tsyban et al.,
1990) and SAR (Bijlsma, 1996) and in the Special Report on Regional Impacts
of Climate Change (Nurse et al., 1998) already concluded that low-lying
small islands are among the most vulnerable countries in the world. A similar
conclusion is reached in this Third Assessment Report. Their overall vulnerability
is shown to be a function of the degree of exposure of these states to
climate change and their limited capacity to adapt to projected impacts.
This section assesses the relevant literature on the vulnerability of small
island states that has become available since the SAR, including an overview
of available country studies. In addition, this section pays particular attention
to adaptation. Whereas Bijlsma (1996) and Nurse et al. (1998) focuse
on available adaptation options, this section takes a process-oriented approach
to adaptation and recognizes adaptive capacity as an important determinant of
vulnerability.
17.3.2. Generic Issues
Many definitions of vulnerability and adaptation exist in the literature (see
Chapter 18). However, this report defines vulnerability
to climate change as "the degree to which a system is sensitive to and unable
to cope with adverse impacts of climatic stimuli. Vulnerability is a function
of a system's exposure and its adaptive capacity." Adaptation is the "adjustment
in natural or human systems in response to actual or expected climatic stimuli,
or their effects" (see Chapter 2). Vulnerability therefore
is a function of potential impacts and adaptive capacity, and adaptation refers
to both natural and human system responses. Whereas the previous section focused
on impacts and responses of natural systems, this section discusses the relevance
of adaptation for human systems in a small islands context.
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