Resilience Combining Mitigation and Adaptation

Resilience, in the first instance, refers to the capability to absorb or withstand hazards and overcome or recover from them. It is also a measure of the ability to handle shocks in the future, as stronger resilience adds responsiveness to new eventualities. Resilience building also means that future risk is qualified accordingly. In a world of runaway climate change, resilience goes beyond the ability to bounce back from disasters to building the capacity to confront bigger challenges. Needed investments in resiliency cover capabilities of staff, their technical competence, and institutional attributes. Societal or community behaviour reflecting social capital matters for the way in which resilience is built and exercised. Both adaptation that helps society to adjust, and mitigation that lowers risks, are essential elements of climate resilience. The shares countries devote to one or the other vary depending on how they are positioned and where vulnerability lies in relative terms.