Cultural dimensions of climate change impacts and adaptation

NATURE CLIMATE CHANGE | VOL 3 | FEBRUARY 2013 | www.nature.com/natureclimatechange Responding to climate change is about adjusting to risks, either in reaction to or in anticipation of changes arising from changing weather and climate. Research and policy on adaptation and mitigation has largely focused on the material aspects of climate change, including risks to lives and livelihoods, the costs of decarbonizing economies and the costs of impacts on various sectors of the economy1. These are, for the most part, quantifiable and therefore conventionally included in policy analyses. No less important, however, are the cultural dimensions of climate change. Culture is important for understanding both mitigation of and adaptation to climate change, and of course plays its part in framing climate change as a phenomenon of concern to society. Culture is embedded in the dominant modes of production, consumption, lifestyles and social organization that give rise to emissions of greenhouse gases. The consequences of these emissions—climate change impacts—are given meaning through cultural interpretations of science and risk2–4. Culture is no less central to understanding and implementing adaptation: the identification of risks, decisions about responses, and means of implementation are all mediated by culture. Cultures are dynamic and reflexive and so are in turn shaped by the idea of climate change. Hence culture, and its analysis, is central to understanding the causes and meaning of, and human responses to climate change. Here we focus on weather and climate-related risks and the cultural dimensions of adaptation responses, while recognizing that culture plays an equally central role in energy, technology and mitigation. Our scope is restricted to cultural aspects of risks and adaptation, and in particular the non-material processes and resources that enable people to lead meaningful and dignified lives, yet which are at risk from climate change. We analyse the evidence from a wave of new social science research into these hitherto under-emphasized cultural dimensions of climate change risks and responses, and suggest how they might inform adaptation planning. This recent body of work shows that climate change exacerbates risks to cultures; that most contemporary responses fail to address these critical dimensions of climate risk; that climate change adaptation can itself put some of these important elements of social life at risk; and that these elements may in turn be enablers or barriers to adaptation. Cultural dimensions of climate change impacts and adaptation