Energy for adaptation: connecting the Paris Agreement with the Sustainable Development Goals

Increased effort to cope with the rapidly emerging impacts of climate change is urgently needed. Whether adaptation bears the risk of inducing a negative feedback loop through its energy requirements has not been investigated. Here we examine the Nationally Determined Contributions submitted by world governments under the Paris Agreement with the aim of identifying the adaptation options associated with energy use and of defining energy use for adaptation. By linking the resulting options to the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals, through the related targets and indicators, we evaluate the extent to which energy use for adaptation facilitate progress towards sustainability. Drawing from the relevant literature on vulnerability and energy, we provide new evidence on the role that energy plays in the context of adaptation, proposing a framework that connects adaptation, mitigation, and sustainable development through the lens of the energy requirements of adaptation strategies. Results highlight priority policy actions to promote climate-development synergies and indicate where quantitative system models could focus in order to integrate adaptation energy needs in future energy scenarios.