<p>Alongside essential studies of risk, it is also important to improve our understanding of potentially beneficial impacts of changing climate. This can inform adaptive responses for realizing opportunities in a sustainable and equitable manner. The few assessments that address potential benefits reveal research needs, including systematic analysis of: beneficial impacts and existing adaptation to realize opportunities; distribution of impacts, justice implications and risks of maladaptation; trade-offs between opportunities and risks; and barriers and enablers for realizing opportunities. Research gaps could be addressed and adaptation action incentivized through modified research and assessment frameworks that combine inclusive approaches to impact analysis with hybrid scenarios and social justice principles. Assessments such as those performed by the IPCC could address the potential opportunities of climate change explicitly alongside the risks to inform adaptation.</p>