Climate policy has two modes: mitigation (reducing emissions) and adaptation (adjusting to changes that are now unavoidable).
Mitigation works on the cause. Adaptation works on the effect. Both are necessary — mitigation determines the ceiling of harm; adaptation determines how much of the unavoidable harm we successfully absorb.
The political economy differs: mitigation requires global coordination (free rider problem); adaptation is mostly local (a sea wall in Miami doesn't help Jakarta). This makes adaptation politically easier and mitigation more important to get right globally.