Adaptation vs Resilience: Let's Settle This Once And For All

There’s a war of words going on in climate world. To be fair, it’s more like a war over words.

I’m referring to a semantic argument that seems to boomerang around every few months. You see it unfold in viral LinkedIn threads, hear it hashed over at conferences, and read about it in lengthy whitepapers from organizations as diverse as the United Nations and JP Morgan.

I’m talking, of course, about the terms “adaptation” and “resilience” themselves. What do they actually mean? Can we use them interchangeably? And does the distinction even matter when it comes to mobilizing finance, technology, and policy to tackle climate risks and opportunities?

I have some thoughts on the matter. You likely have plenty of your own. So in the interests of tempering this terminological tumult — and because it’s the last week of silly season — I thought it would be fun to ask the good subscribers of Climate Proof to have their say.

What follows is a brief survey asking for your thoughts on what “adaptation” and “resilience” mean and how they’re perceived by three key ‘factions’: finance, tech, and policy.

The results will be evaluated by a highly partial assessor (me), and used to inform what should hopefully be a fun and informative little article on the adaptation and resilience discourse later in September.

So, are you Team Adaptation or Team Resilience? Is it A&R or A vs R? Is all of this rather silly, or is it of great and terrible consequence? 

Here’s your chance to shape the debate. Don’t let me down!

📋 Use the button below to enter the survey. Need a primer? Scroll down for a grab-bag of definitions of “adaptation”, “resilience”, and “adaptation & resilience” from various organizations

Thanks for reading!

Louie Woodall
Editor