When speaking about climate change, it is necessary to differentiate between two types of response in policymaking. On the one hand, climate change demands a reorganization of societies and international relations as well as shifts in energy, production, and consumption systems. These fundamental transformations are ushered through by transition policies.
On the other hand, even if societies managed to transition tomorrow, past greenhouse gas emissions have locked the world into climate-related disruptions. This calls for adaptation and mitigation policies to rebuild institutional and ecological systems and craft responses that are better suited to dealing with a series of shocks that will accelerate in pace, intensity, and number over multiple geographies.