Climate adaption sounds easy; it's not for most people in the world

The now-notorious speech by HSBC's Stuart Kirk last month argued 'we can solve this through adaption,' claiming that climate change fears were overblown

Cutting emissions is not easy, but most people — certainly most experts — agree that this effort and upheaval is worthwhile to keep the Earth’s atmosphere in a similar state to the one that has supported human society for many thousands of years.

A common refrain from those who believe it isn’t worth the trouble is “we will adapt” — a broad reference to measures that ameliorate the effects of climate change.

A 2020 paper categorising the rhetoric used to prevent climate action without resorting to outright science denial identifies “surrender” as one of the main “discourses of delay.” The authors write