Evaluating the Potential of ChatGPT to Support ClimateRisk and Adaptation Assessment

Adaptation to climate change is increasingly urgent, as efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions falter. Scaling up adaptationfinance is essential to address climate risks, but no adaptation inventory covers all sectors and regions globally, especially forvulnerable, information-scarce communities. Large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT could help bridge these gaps throughrapid scoping of climate risks, adaptation options, programme costs and potential maladaptation. This paper uses structuredconversations with ChatGPT to explore adaptations to climate hazards in the United Kingdom (for a national perspective),Bangladesh (for an education sector) and Ghana (for vulnerable communities). Queries were run multiple times to test consistencyof outputs and contextual awareness. Early results are promising when compared with published information and expert insight.Nonetheless, practical steps can be taken for more effective use of LLMs, and these are captured in a checklist for users. Furtherresearch is needed to compare ChatGPT with other LLMs in giving reliable, domain-specific information about climate risks andpriority adaptations.