Adaptation responses in mountains are mainly incremental changes from existing practices  , signalling that the potential of current and planned adaptation responses to reduce risks in the future will not be adequate to mitigate high to very high risks. For example, measures to contain floods or landslides  are designed with specific magnitudes and types in mind, often assuming stationarity of return periods . In the case of events showing decreasing return periods, risk mitigation standards need to be elevated to provide for more protection in the future . The portfolio of adaptation options to mitigate risks from changing water resources  is large but challenging and includes integrated catchment management, implementation of multiple use of water strategies, improved water governance , overcoming power inequalities among users and sectors and balancing economic pressure and sustainable development   . There is limited evidence on the effectiveness of adaptation responses to reduce the severity of ecosystem change  . Prevention rather than control and eradication efforts can contribute to curbing biological invasions of alien species in the short turn, whereas colonisation by native trees following land use abandonment can be more effective in the long run . Reducing intensified grazing, agricultural expansion and conservation management in buffer zones of protected areas can limit the altitudinal range shift of endemic species .
IPCC
Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability
IPCC Report