In delivering adaptation in cities, settlements and infrastructure, however, there is a need to understand and measure the adaptive capacity and limits to manage future risks in communities, institutions and organisations . However efforts to track urban adaptation lack consistent methods, metrics and data gathering . The scale of complex, cascading challenges, limited finance and governance capacity, combined with the impacts of growing social inequality and sustainable development priorities can result in both soft and hard limits on cities government's capacity to adapt to climate change . Hard limits to adaptation are identified when it is unfeasible to avoid severe risks, while soft limits exist when technological and socioeconomic options are not immediately deployable . In urban contexts, soft limits may become hard limits when large numbers of people are unable to avoid severe climate-related risks of loss and damage . Climate change-related loss and damage that are intangible also require more caution in assessment processes . Incorporating Indigenous knowledge can identify people-oriented and place-specific scenarios, leading to development of urban adaptation policies that foster identity, dignity, self-determination and better collective decision making/capacity to act , and are also sensitive to the local context and limits of community adaptation .
IPCC
Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability
IPCC Report