35 research outputs found
Conflict considerations in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Changeâs National Adaptation Plans
Many places affected by violent conflict are also those with the lowest capacity to respond to the impacts of climate change and, therefore, some the most vulnerable. Consequently, it is here where climate change most likely results in social tensions that could escalate into or sustain conflicts. This double burden of compounding conflict and climate risks suggests an urgent need for climate adaptation interventions. However, so far adaptation agendas are often poorly aligned with those reducing conflict risk. Seeking to overcome this gap, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) National Adaptation Plan (NAP) process has been highlighted as an important opportunity to align adaptation and peacebuilding agendas. Based on qualitative analysis of the ten least peaceful countriesâ NAPs (submitted by November 2022), and developing a novel analytical framework on climate, conflict and adaptation interactions, the paper examines whether and to what extent countries bring conflict considerations into their NAPs, and account for interactions between climate change, conflict and adaptation. Findings suggest that by and large, conflict considerations are not systematically brought into adaptation planning â an omission that might ultimately prove irresponsible, highly costly and dangerous. The paper concludes with recommendations that countries faced by the double-burden of climate change and fragility, and international actors supporting them in their NAP process, could employ
Migration as climate adaptation? Exploring discourses amongst development actors in the Pacific Island region
Adaptation, now? : Exploring the Politics of Climate Adaptation through Poststructuralist Discourse Theory
Increasing evidence of anthropogenic climate change and the recognition that warming is likely to go beyond 2°C raises the need for responses that help people cope with the anticipated changes. The rise of attention to so-called climate adaptation on political agendas at the local, national and international scale has come about with a hastily growing field of academic knowledge production. But while adaptation choices are inherently political, adaptation has been largely considered a âproblem freeâ process and âtameâ challenge; only a relatively small strand of scholarly work engages in critical enquiry into the idea of adaptation, the discursive practices through which it is imagined, and related questions of power and politics. Responding to calls for more attention to the socio-political dimensions of adaptation and for conceptually embedded research, this thesis investigates the creation, interpretation and use of adaptation as a concept in research, policy and practice. Drawing on Poststructuralist Discourse Theory and the so-called Logics of Critical Explanation in particular, it develops a perspective through which the politics of adaptation can be investigated in a theoretically and methodologically consistent and transparent manner. Through a close analysis of official adaptation discourses at the international level, the EU level, and the national level in Germany, the thesis enquires into the discursive practices around adaptation responses and what these different discourses open up or limit in terms of broader implications for political action. The contributions of the thesis are empirical, methodological and conceptual. In addition to providing critical insights into contemporary understandings of adaptation, including revealing some depoliticising âbuilding blocksâ in conventional adaptation discourses, the thesis makes two important conceptual contributions to the growing field of critical adaptation studies: (1) It suggests that the increasing interconnectedness between people and places makes it impossible to know whether adaptation efforts undertaken have in reality reduced net vulnerability or simply shuffled vulnerability across the board. Ignoring the potential for such redistributive effects can have significant consequences in practice and will likely lead to unsustainable and, in the long run, maladaptive outcomes. (2) It argues that non-rational and affective dimensions are vital to the emergence of adaptation responses and that paying attention to them is important if critical scholarship is to understand and intervene in the persistence of techno-managerial approaches to adaptation. Furthermore, to the field of critical policy studies this thesis makes a methodological contribution by developing a new analytical framework for poststructuralist policy analysis.Vi ser allt starkare bevis pĂ„ att de antropogena klimatförĂ€ndringarna, trots internationella anstrĂ€ngningar att begrĂ€nsa utslĂ€ppen av vĂ€xthusgaser, troligen kommer att överstiga tvĂ„gradersmĂ„let. Detta kommer att leda till omfattande förĂ€ndringar av vĂ„r livsmiljö, vilket i sin tur kommer att krĂ€va betydande Ă„tgĂ€rder för anpassning. Intresset för klimatanpassning har ökat pĂ„ lokala, nationella och internationella politiska dagordningar, samtidigt som forskningen pĂ„ omrĂ„det har intensifierats. Men trots att besluten om implementering av specifika Ă„tgĂ€rder i grunden Ă€r politiska, har klimatanpassningen ofta betraktats som en âproblemfriâ process, eller en âtamâ utmaning. Hittills har endast en relativt liten del av forskningen analyserat den pĂ„gĂ„ende debatten om anpassningen, samt hur de dominerande diskurserna och de föreslagna lösningarna Ă€r sammanlĂ€nkade med frĂ„gor om makt och politik. Den hĂ€r avhandlingen sĂ€tter de socio-politiska dimensionerna av klimatanpassningen i fokus och undersöker empiriskt och teoretiskt hur sjĂ€lva fenomenet âklimatanpassningâ uppstĂ„r, tolkas och anvĂ€nds som ett begrepp inom forskning, politik och praktik. Med avstamp i poststrukturalistisk diskursteori â och i synnerhet det sĂ„ kallade logikperspektivet (Ă€ven kallat Logics of Critical Explanation, eller the logics approach)â vidareutvecklas hĂ€r ett analytiskt ramverk som syftar till att undersöka anpassningspolitiken pĂ„ ett konsekvent och transparent sĂ€tt. Med utgĂ„ngspunkt i empiriska analyser av officiella anpassningsdiskurser pĂ„ internationell nivĂ„, europeisk nivĂ„ (EU) och nationell nivĂ„ i Tyskland undersöks hur olika diskursiva logiker möjliggör eller begrĂ€nsar förutsĂ€ttningarna för politiskt handlande. Avhandlingens bidrag Ă€r alltsĂ„ sĂ„vĂ€l empiriska som begreppsliga och metodologiska. Empiriskt bidrar den med kritiska insikter och visar hur de vanligast förekommande samtida anpassningsdiskurserna innehĂ„ller viktiga avpolitiserande aspekter (till exempel genom att inkorporeras i en nyliberal marknadsdiskurs). Dess viktigaste teoretiska bidrag till det vĂ€xande fĂ€ltet av kritiska anpassningsstudier Ă€r för det första en diskussion om hur den ökande sammankopplingen mellan mĂ€nniskor och platser gör det omöjligt att veta om arbetet för anpassning pĂ„ specifika platser verkligen minskar den totala sĂ„rbarheten eller om det bara förflyttar sĂ„rbarheten nĂ„gon annanstans. Att bortse frĂ„n sĂ„dana omfördelningseffekter kan fĂ„ betydande konsekvenser och kommer troligen att leda till ohĂ„llbara strategier â och dĂ€rmed i lĂ€ngden till missanpassning snarare Ă€n anpassning. För det andra visar avhandlingen att icke-rationella och affektiva (kĂ€nsloladdade) dimensioner Ă€r centrala i anpassningspolitiken och att det Ă€r viktigt att vara uppmĂ€rksam pĂ„ dem för att förstĂ„ och förĂ€ndra de nuvarande teknik- och managementorienterade anpassningsstrategierna. Avhandlingen bidrar Ă€ven med metodologiska insikter till forskningsfĂ€ltet âkritiska policystudierâ genom att utveckla ett nytt analytiskt ramverk för poststrukturalistisk policyanalys