Adaptation to climate change is a complex process of societal change and should be studied as such. Attention to issues of climate adaptation has increased considerably over the past few years. Until now, less attention has been paid to questions concerning normative issues of societal change. In this paper we will address three important questions on the normative level: (a) What kind of legal and policy principles should public and private actors take to heart when formulating and implementing adaptation measures? (b) Which societal interests should be protected by a climate-adaptation policy and in what order? (c) To what extent are governments responsible for adaptation to climate change and what are the responsibilities to be borne by private parties and citizens? We will treat these questions from a mix of legal, administrative, and economic perspectives. We conclude with some recommendations on how to deal with these normative aspects in policy-making processes.

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, Case Concerning the Gabcíkovo-Nagymaros Project (Hungary/Slovakia), ; the obligation to take all appropriate measures to prevent the causing of significant harm to other watercourse States can be found in Art. 7 Watercourses Convention; Art. 8 of the Watercourses Convention contains the general obligation to cooperate and it encourages regional cooperation. 12 UN Convention on the Law of the Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses, New York, 21 May 1997, adopted by the UN General Assembly by resolution A/RES/51/229, UN Doc. A/51/869, and 36 ILM (1997), 719. Not yet in force: 16 Parties-35 required; also open to regional economic integration organizations, in addition to states. See .