Beyond Carbon Neutrality: Hybrid Climate Adaptation Models for Low-Income Nations under High Emission Scenarios
Keywords:
Climate Change Adaptation, Carbon Neutrality, Low-Income Countries, RCP8.5, Resilience, Hybrid ModelsAbstract
Global climate policy has traditionally prioritized carbon neutrality as the central objective. However, under high-emission scenarios projected by the IPCC, especially RCP8.5, achieving this goal may not be sufficient to prevent severe climate disruptions, particularly for low-income countries (LICs) with limited adaptive capacity. This paper explores the limitations of carbon neutrality-centric models and proposes a hybrid framework that combines aggressive mitigation with systemic, localized adaptation strategies for LICs. It reviews literature on climate adaptation, highlights gaps in policy and practice, and introduces a conceptual model for hybrid adaptation under worst-case emission trajectories. Findings suggest that hybrid approaches, leveraging both bottom-up resilience planning and top-down infrastructure investments, are critical for safeguarding vulnerable populations.
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