The need to adapt to climate change is now widely recognised as evidence of its impacts on social and natural systems grows and greenhouse gas emissions continue unabated. Yet efforts to adapt to climate change, as reported in the literature over the last decade and in selected case studies, have not led to substantial rates of implementation of adaptation actions despite substantial investments in adaptation science. Moreover, implemented actions have been mostly incremental and focused on proximate causes; there are far fewer reports of more systemic or transformative actions. We found that the nature and effectiveness of responses was strongly influenced by framing. Recent decision-oriented approaches that aim to overcome this situation are framed within a "pathways" metaphor to emphasise the need for robust decision making within adaptive processes in the face of uncertainty and inter-temporal complexity. However, to date, such "adaptation pathways" approaches have mostly focused on contexts with clearly identified decision-makers and unambiguous goals; as a result, they generally assume prevailing governance regimes are conducive for adaptation and hence constrain responses to proximate causes of vulnerability. In this paper, we explore a broader conceptualisation of "adaptation pathways" that draws on 'pathways thinking' in the sustainable development domain to consider the implications of path dependency, interactions between adaptation plans, vested interests and global change, and situations where values, interests, or institutions constrain societal responses to change. This re-conceptualisation of adaptation pathways aims to inform decision makers about integrating incremental actions on proximate causes with the transformative aspects of societal change. Case studies illustrate what this might entail. The paper ends with a call for further exploration of theory, methods and procedures to operationalise this broader conceptualisation of adaptation

In this paper we review current approaches and recent advances in research on climate impacts and adaptation in South Africa. South Africa has a well-developed earth system science research program that underpins the climate change scenarios developed for the southern African region. Established research on the biophysical impacts of climate change on key sectors (water, agriculture, and biodiversity) integrates the climate change scenarios but further research is needed in a number of areas, such as the climate impacts on cities and the built environment. National government has developed a National Climate Change Response White Paper, but this has yet to translate into policy that mainstreams adaptation in everyday practice and longer-term planning in all spheres and levels of government. A national process to scope long-term adaptation scenarios is underway, focusing on cross-sectoral linkages in adaptation responses at a national level. Adaptation responses are emerging in certain sectors. Some notable city-scale and project-based adaptation responses have been implemented, but institutional challenges persist. In addition, a number of knowledge gaps remain in relation to the biophysical and socio-economic impacts of climate change. A particular need is to develop South Africa's capacity to undertake integrated assessments of climate change that can support climate-resilient development planning. © 2014 The Authors. WIREs Climate Change published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. How to cite this article:WIREs Clim Change 2014Change , 5:605-620. doi: 10.1002 This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes. 4 Responding to these scenarios, policies have been developed, including the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme and more recently National Treasury consideration and planned implementation of carbon taxes. 5,6 Increasingly, however, the issue of climate adaptation is coming to the fore. In the context of South Africa's urgent socio-economic developmental needs and threatened ecosystem services, adaptive responses that reduce vulnerability to current as well as future climate variability and change are critical. Reducing the so-called 'adaptation deficit', that is exposure and sensitivity to the present-day climate variability and observed change, is an important dimension of long-term adaptation planning. 7 Responses at the national level have started to focus on integrated development trajectories more broadly. South Africa's new National Development Plan 2030 8 goes some way toward reframing climate change as a development challenge. Several government departments across all three spheres of government-national, provincial, and local-are now developing climate change strategies and/or plans.To develop a coherent national adaptation response, there is a need to integrate cli...

Journal article;CRP5; ISI; Southern Africa‘s hydro-economy and water security (SAHEWS)EPTD; DSGDPRCGIAR Research Program on Water, Land and Ecosystems (WLE