The emphasis of modern environmental policy has been on prevention. Governments, international institutions and activists have rightly focused on reducing emissions, protecting ecosystems and slowing the pace of climate change. Yet as weather patterns become more erratic and natural systems come under increasing stress, another question is demanding equal attention: how do societies adapt when change is already underway? The answer may not always lie in grand national missions or expensive technological breakthroughs. Often, it emerges from communities confronting immediate threats to their survival and finding practical ways to overcome them.

Across vulnerable landscapes worldwide, the most consequential climate innovations are increasingly those that help people live with a changing environment rather than merely warn about it. This shift in thinking is particularly important for mountain regions. The Himalayas are frequently described as Asia’s water tower, feeding rivers that sustain hundreds of millions of people. Yet the retreat of glaciers and changing snowfall patterns are altering long-established hydrological cycles. Communities that once depended on predictable seasonal water flows are finding that nature’s timetable no longer........

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