Study on the Development and Application of a Climate Crisis Adaptation Index for Heat Waves

Background and objective: The increasing frequency of climate-related disasters underscores the need to enhance theresponse and adaptation capacities of local governments. Although local climate change adaptation plans are mandated inKorea, an urgent need exists for locally tailored measures. To address this gap, we proposed and piloted a “Climate CrisisAdaptation Index” as a tool to assess and enhance local climate risk management and adaptive capacities. Methods: The index was applied to 229 local governments to evaluate heat-wave-related risks. The final index wascalculated by evaluating and synthesizing various indicators, such as damage, hazard, vulnerability, and adaptationimplementation performance, after removing outliers. Results: The index captured regional performances in addressing climate risks. High-scoring areas exhibited reducedheat-related damage, fewer vulnerable populations, and more effective adaptation measures. Conversely, low-scoringregions were more vulnerable and lacked adequate adaptation efforts, highlighting the need for targeted policyinterventions. Conclusion: The pilot application of the Climate Crisis Adaptation Index offers a robust evaluation framework for evaluatinglocal adaptation to heat wave risks. It shows potential to guide the formulation of context-specific adaptation measuresthrough continuous improvement research, systematic implementation monitoring, and broader engagement by localgovernments in climate change adaptation planning.