Transformative adaptation as a sustainable response to climate change: insights from large-scale case studies (original) (raw)
Related papers
Transformational Adaptation to Climate Change
As the failure of efforts to hold global average temperature increase below the internationally agreed thresholds becomes increasingly obvious, policy has turned to adaptation as essential to responding to climate change. Adaptation could be a way to avoid fundamental transformation of global economic, political, and social institutions. However, global capitalism has no more capacity to adapt humanely and equitably to the climate crisis than it does to preventing it from happening. Consequently, transformational institutional change will be required to prevent catastrophe. This suggests an important role for those advocating a progressive ecological civilization or eco-socialism to contribute to the dialogue on how to adapt to now-inevitable higher temperatures and consequent effects on human interests. Transformation of global political, economic, and social institutions might provide the context for successful adaptation to catastrophic climate change.
Coastal DisasterDisplacement, 2021
Climate change adaptation for South Asia's coastal areas is a lived reality for more than a decade now. Various actors are engaged in making coastal communities resilient to climate change impacts. Global north scholars are struggling to develop a social and economic transformation theory that can address climate change impacts (Gibson-Graham, 2010); communities in coastal areas make those transformative decisions every day along with the government, NGOs, and grassroot activists. In this commentary, I am arguing for a new goal of climate change adaptation research that seeks to bridge between the scholarly search for a theory of transformation and the on the ground adaptation work in coastal areas. I am using a case study of cyclone preparedness in Bangladesh for this purpose.
Adapting to Climate Change: Transforming Development?
This article examines the implications of the growing discussion around transformation and adaptation for development policy and practice. While there is increasing agreement that incremental approaches are insufficient to tackle climate change, and that deeper transformative change is also necessary, the ways in which transformation is understood vary significantly, and hence how it is to be operationalised remains unclear. Tracing the emergence of transformation in adaptation debates, and linking them to the intellectual roots of the idea of transformation, we interrogate different approaches that exist towards transformation in terms of moving beyond dominant neoliberal development trajectories. The article discusses some of the conceptual and practical challenges in bringing about transformational change in international development, concluding with some suggestions for the way forward in operationalising transformation for development in line with long-term climate change adaptation goals.
Does Transformational Adaptation Require a Transformation of Climate Services?
Frontiers in Climate, 2021
Cities, regions and countries are increasingly adapting to climate change. Adaptation approaches often build on disaster management activities to deal with climate extremes and make improvements to already existing systems to prepare for climate change, e.g., through water engineering or cooling existing buildings. But ideally, adaptation strategies aim also at tackling the root causes of climate risks through broader sustainable development pathways. Such transformational approaches, however, are still in their infancy. In this perspective paper we argue that there is a lack of guidance to support policy-makers to develop transformational adaptation strategies. There is a need and opportunity to develop climate services that support transformational adaptation. We explore how climate services can support transformational adaptation, drawing from literature, practical experience and illustrative examples. We identify four knowledge requirements: (1) system knowledge to identify the ...
Characteristics of Transformational Adaptation in Climate-Land-Society Interactions
Sustainability
Countries across the world aspire towards climate resilient sustainable development. The interacting processes of climate change, land change, and unprecedented social and technological change pose significant obstacles to these aspirations. The pace, intensity, and scale of these sizeable risks and vulnerabilities affect the central issues in sustainable development: how and where people live and work, access to essential resources and ecosystem services needed to sustain people in given locations, and the social and economic means to improve human wellbeing in the face of disruptions. This paper addresses the question: What are the characteristics of transformational adaptation and development in the context of profound changes in land and climate? To explore this question, this paper contains four case studies: managing storm water runoff related to the conversion of rural land to urban land in Indonesia; using a basket of interventions to manage social impacts of flooding in Nep...