It is now recognised that there is an urgent need in developing countries to formulate and implement adaptive strategies that would lessen climate change risks. This report summarises the learning from the Assessments of Impacts of and Adaptation to Climate Change in Multiple Regions and Sectors (AIACC) Project.  It highlights lessons learned about climate change vulnerability and adaptation from case studies on developing countries around the world.
The report finds that, while climate change vulnerability and adaptation are highly context-specific, a number of general lessons have been developed through comparison and synthesis across the AIACC studies. The general lessons on climate change vulnerability include:

climate variability, extremes and change are a danger now, not just in the distant future
the danger is greatest where natural systems are severely degraded and human systems are failing
water scarcity, increased flood risks and land degradation are major concerns
the livelihoods and food security of the rural poor are threatened by climate change
multiple factors converge to make the people inhabiting coastal zones and small islands highly vulnerable
vulnerability to adverse health impacts is greater where health care systems are weak and programmes for disease surveillance and prevention are lacking
some ecosystems and many of their species may be lost to climate change

The following are lessons from the AIACC studies that can help to guide a transition from coping with current climate hazards to adapting to future climate change:

interventions are needed to create conditions that enable people to surmount the obstacles and take actions to help themselves
integrating adaptation with development planning and actions can exploit the complementarities to advance both adaptation and development goals
nearly all of the case studies highlighted lack of knowledge as a critical constraint on adaptation and rank efforts to increase and communicate knowledge as a high priority
institutions are found to play important roles for enabling adaptation
additional financial resources ar e necessary in order to enable adaptation at the micro and macro level
involving persons at risk in the process of adaptation, the intended beneficiaries, can increase the effectiveness of adaptation to climate change

The report concludes with a discussion of the existing gaps in research on climate change vulnerability and adaptation.