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A systems perspective for climate adaptation in deltas

Nature Climate Change volume 15, pages 687–691 (2025)Cite this article

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Deltas are complex and are among the most vulnerable landforms under climate change. Studying them collectively highlights common stressors that drive their most significant challenges. A holistic conceptual framing of a delta and its feeding river basin is fundamental to effective adaptation planning.

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Fig. 1: Climatic and anthropogenic drivers of change in the world’s deltas.
Fig. 2: A conceptual framework to support decision-makers in addressing biophysical and societal challenges in deltas.

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Acknowledgements

Various concepts in this Comment were inspired by the work done in the Rise and Fall project (funded by the Dutch Research Council) in the context of the Vietnamese Mekong Delta, led by P. Hoekstra of Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands. P. Hoekstra retired this year, and we would like to acknowledge his lifetime contribution to understanding complex fluvial–coastal systems, reflected in many of the ideas presented here. We would like to acknowledge D. Janse’s inspiring art work and contribution to infographics in this Comment. Furthermore, A. van Dijk (Studio A) helped to conceptualize the framework visualization. This work was partially funded by the strategic research budget of Deltares, Delft, the Netherlands.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Marine and Coastal Systems Unit, Deltares, Delft, the Netherlands

    Sepehr Eslami & Kees Sloff

  2. Subsurface and Groundwater Systems Unit, Deltares, Delft, the Netherlands

    Gualbert Oude Essink & Philip S. J. Minderhoud

  3. Department of Physical Geography, Faculty of Geoscience, Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands

    Gualbert Oude Essink

  4. Environmental Change Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

    Amelie Paszkowski

  5. Institute of Geography, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany

    Katharina Seeger

  6. Soil Geography & Landscape Group, Wageningen University, Wageningen, the Netherlands

    Katharina Seeger & Philip S. J. Minderhoud

  7. Department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering, University of Padova, Padova, Italy

    Philip S. J. Minderhoud

  8. Department of Hydraulic Engineering, Delft University of Technology, Delft, the Netherlands

    Kees Sloff

  9. Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK

    Robert J. Nicholls

  10. School of Engineering, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK

    Robert J. Nicholls

Authors
  1. Sepehr Eslami
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  2. Gualbert Oude Essink
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  3. Amelie Paszkowski
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  4. Katharina Seeger
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  5. Philip S. J. Minderhoud
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  6. Kees Sloff
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  7. Robert J. Nicholls
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Contributions

S.E. coordinated various inputs from colleagues, conceptualized the manuscript and visualizations, and led the authorship. G.O.E. and R.J.N. conceptualized the manuscript, reviewed various versions and contributed to the text. A.P., K. Seeger and P.S.J.M. reviewed the manuscript, contributed to the text and helped to conceptualize the visualizations. K. Sloff reviewed the manuscript and contributed to the text.

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Correspondence to Sepehr Eslami.

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Eslami, S., Oude Essink, G., Paszkowski, A. et al. A systems perspective for climate adaptation in deltas. Nat. Clim. Chang. 15, 687–691 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-025-02368-0

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