Ethical dimensions of adapting to climate change-imposed risks

doi:10.1017/CBO9780511732294.013

12 - Ethical dimensions of adapting to climate change-imposed risks

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 11 April 2011

W. Neil Adger and

Sophie Nicholson-Cole

Edited by

Denis G. Arnold

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W. Neil Adger: Affiliation:
University of East Anglia
Sophie Nicholson-Cole: Affiliation:
Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research
Denis G. Arnold: Affiliation:
University of North Carolina, Charlotte

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Summary

Historical, present, and future emissions of greenhouse gases, principally through energy use, are altering the climate. Hence they are imposing harm and will impose harm in the future. This volume concentrates, rightly, on the ethical issues of stewardship, responsibility, and precaution that are relevant to questions of reducing emissions and avoiding climate change. But the remit of ethical questions relevant to the climate change challenge is wider: the ethics of science, evidence, and foresight; the ethics of public discourse and media; and the ethics of representation of the future and nonhumans, to name but a few. Here we examine issues around how society will adapt to a changing climate and its related impacts and challenges.

The impacts of human-induced climate change are with us, and in anticipation of future risks, adaptation to those changes is under way. While individuals and societies have always adapted to risks associated with changing climates and environments, adaptation to human-induced climate change is categorically different in that it involves the avoidance of harm imposed by others. In this chapter we explore the ethical issues raised by imposed harm and the need for sustainable adaptation. In particular, we explore the landscape of issues around the governance process and procedures by which climate justice for adaptation could potentially be implemented. We focus on the three issues of (1) identifying climate change adaptation; (2) identifying vulnerability; and (3) managing the responsibility for action.

Type: Chapter
Information: The Ethics of Global Climate Change , pp. 255 - 271

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511732294.013 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2011

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