Climate mitigation and adaptation pathways  

Climate-related water risks are interconnected, requiring comprehensive assessments to guide adaptation planning and prevent maladaptation. However, solutions and financing for resilience are often separated into adaptation and mitigation, with limited data on their effectiveness and trade-offs. Scaling these solutions is typically isolated and technocratic, overlooking climate risks and the perspectives of all stakeholders leading to limited adoption. This poses significant risks when scaling these innovations across space and time leading to ineffective investment with potential unintended consequences. Additionally, the impact of climate challenges on financing and scaling mechanisms is not well understood, reducing their flexibility and effectiveness. 

The International Water Management Institute works to help governments and other partners plan and operationalize climate change adaptation and/or mitigation strategies through developing scientific evidence, models and frameworks. Its programs and research:  

  • Enhance climate related multi-hazard risk and impact assessments across scales for better decision making across water-food-energy and the environment.
  • Empower locally led adoption and de-risks scaling processes and investments through the production and incorporation of climate information services.
  • De-carbonize water systems to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
  • Combine water innovations with innovative financing and insurance mechanisms to address multi-level and –actor risks along scaling processes. 
  • Quantify water consumption of adaptation and mitigation measures and forecast future water demands across the agricultural, energy and environment.
  • Enhance the effectiveness, evaluates the trade-offs and risk for maladaptation of water innovations for adaptation and mitigation across space and time.
  • Incorporate climate information and risk profiling to strengthen scaling processes and investment.
  • Promote intersectionality in water and climate risk management to ensure that water solutions for adaptation and mitigation are both inclusive and responsive to diverse needs and experiences.

Contact

Petra Schmitter

Petra Schmitter

Research Group Leader – Climate Mitigation & Adaptation Pathways

Latest news on this topic

Latest publications on this topic

Unpacking innovation demands for climate-resilient mixed farming systems in Sub-Saharan Africa: a case of northern Ghana (05/05/2025)
Unpacking innovation demands for climate-resilient mixed farming systems in Sub-Saharan Africa: a case of northern Ghana.
Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development, 2025
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Implications of changes in water stress and precipitation extremes for cocoa production in Cte D’Ivoire and Ghana (04/25/2025)
Implications of changes in water stress and precipitation extremes for cocoa production in Cte D’Ivoire and Ghana.
International Journal of Climatology, 2025
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Cereal yield and water requirements in response to irrigation and soil fertility management in a changing climate: a case of Tulsipur, western Nepal (04/02/2025)
Cereal yield and water requirements in response to irrigation and soil fertility management in a changing climate: a case of Tulsipur, western Nepal.
Journal of Water and Climate Change, 2025
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Impacts of urbanization on land use change and its incidences on the climate: case of Bingerville City (Ivory Coast, West Africa) (03/28/2025)
Impacts of urbanization on land use change and its incidences on the climate: case of Bingerville City (Ivory Coast, West Africa).
AIMS Geosciences, 2025
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