Social Dimensions of Climate Change : Equity and Vulnerability in a Warming World

• Main Authors: Mearns, Robin, Norton, Andrew
• Format: Other/Unknown Material
• Language: English
• Published: World Bank 2010
• Subjects: ADVERSE CLIMATE; AGRARIAN REFORM; AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS; AIR; AIR QUALITY; ALTITUDE; APPROACH TO CLIMATE CHANGE; ARMED CONFLICT; ARMED CONFLICTS; ATMOSPHERE; BASES; BOREAL FOREST; BULLETIN; CARBON; CARBON DIOXIDE; CARBON DIOXIDE EMISSIONS; CARBON ECONOMY; CARBON INTENSITY; CARBON MARKET; CARBON SEQUESTRATION; CARBON TECHNOLOGIES; CARBON TRADING; CATALYSTS; CHARACTERISTICS OF CLIMATE CHANGE; CHIEF SCIENTIST; CITIZENS; CITIZENSHIP; CIVIL WAR; CLIMATE; CLIMATE ACTION; CLIMATE ADAPTATION; CLIMATE CHANGE; CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION; CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACTS; CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION; CLIMATE CHANGE PROGRAM; CLIMATE CHANGES; CLIMATE EFFECTS; CLIMATE HAZARDS; CLIMATE INVESTMENT; CLIMATE MITIGATION; CLIMATE POLICY; CLIMATE PROJECTIONS; CLIMATE RESILIENCE; CLIMATE RESPONSE; CLIMATE SYSTEM; CLIMATE TRENDS; CLIMATE VARIABILITY; CLIMATE VARIABLES; CLIMATE-RELATED DISASTERS; CLIMATE-SENSITIVE SECTORS; CLIMATIC CHANGES; CLIMATIC VARIABILITY; CO; COLORS; CONSEQUENCES OF CLIMATE CHANGE; CONVERGENCE; CORAL REEFS; COST-BENEFIT; COST-BENEFIT ANALYSIS; CYCLONES; DEMOCRACY; DESERTS; DEVELOPING COUNTRIES; DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS; DIRECT IMPACTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE; DISSEMINATION; DROUGHT; ECONOMIC ACTIVITY; ECONOMIC BENEFITS; ECONOMIC COSTS; ECONOMIC GROWTH; ECOSYSTEM; EFFECT OF CLIMATE VARIABILITY; EMISSIONS; EMISSIONS FROM DEFORESTATION; EMISSIONS REDUCTION; EMISSIONS REDUCTIONS; ENERGY EFFICIENCY; ENERGY SECURITY; ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY; EQUITY CONSIDERATIONS; EVAPOTRANSPIRATION; EXTREME EVENTS; EXTREME WEATHER; EXTREME WEATHER EVENTS; FINANCIAL RESOURCES; FINANCIAL SUPPORT; FLOODS; FOREST; FOREST AREAS; FOREST CARBON; FOREST DEGRADATION; FOREST ECONOMICS; FOREST GOVERNANCE; FOREST PEOPLE; FOREST SECTOR; FORESTRY; FORESTS; FOSSIL FUEL; FOSSIL FUEL CARBON; FOSSIL FUELS; FRAMEWORK CONVENTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE; GAS CONCENTRATIONS; GENDER EQUALITY; GHG; GHGS; GLACIERS; GLOBAL AGENDA; GLOBAL CLIMATE; GLOBAL EMISSIONS; GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL FACILITY; GLOBAL WARMING; GREENHOUSE; GREENHOUSE GAS; GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS; GREENHOUSE-GAS; GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT; HEAVY INDUSTRY; HOUSEHOLD ENERGY; HUMAN ACTIVITY; HUMAN DEVELOPMENT; HUMAN RIGHTS; IMPACT ANALYSIS; IMPACT OF CLIMATE; IMPACT OF CLIMATE CHANGE; IMPACTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE; IMPLEMENTING CLIMATE CHANGE; IMPLICATIONS OF CLIMATE CHANGE; INCOME; INDIGENOUS PEOPLES; INEQUITIES; INSURANCE; INTERGOVERNMENTAL PANEL ON CLIMATE CHANGE; INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY; INTERNATIONAL FORESTRY RESEARCH; INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION; IPCC; LAND TENURE; LAND USE; LEGAL STATUS; LOW-CARBON; MANDATES; MIGRATION; MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS; NATIONAL INCOME; NATURAL RESOURCE; NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT; NATURAL RESOURCES; NEGATIVE IMPACTS; OFFICIAL DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE; PEACE; POLICY ANALYSIS; POLICY ANALYST; POLICY IMPLICATIONS; POLICY MAKERS; POLITICAL CHANGE; PORTFOLIO; PRECIPITATION; PREFERENTIAL ACCESS; PROGRESS; PUBLIC HEALTH; PUBLIC POLICY; QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS; RAIN; RAINFALL; RAINFALL PATTERNS; RAINWATER; RAINWATER HARVESTING; RENEWABLE ENERGY; RISK AVERSION; RISK MANAGEMENT; RURAL DEVELOPMENT; SCARCITIES; SCENARIOS; SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE; SEA ICE; SEA-LEVEL; SEA-LEVEL RISE; SEASON; SOCIAL CHANGE; SOCIAL CONSEQUENCES; SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT; SOCIAL DIMENSIONS; SOCIAL DIMENSIONS OF CLIMATE CHANGE; SOCIAL ISSUES; SOCIAL JUSTICE; SOCIAL POLICIES; SOCIAL POLICY; SOCIAL RESPONSES TO CLIMATE CHANGE; SOCIAL SERVICE; SOCIAL SYSTEMS; STATE UNIVERSITY; STORM SURGES; STORMS; STRATEGIES FOR CLIMATE CHANGE; SURFACE TEMPERATURE; SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT; SUSTAINABLE FOREST; SUSTAINABLE FOREST MANAGEMENT; TEMPERATURES; TRANSPORT SYSTEMS; TROPICAL CYCLONES; TROPICAL FORESTS; TROPICS; UNCERTAINTIES; URBAN CENTERS; URBAN DEVELOPMENT; URBAN POVERTY; URBANIZATION; VULNERABILITY; VULNERABILITY TO CLIMATE CHANGE; VULNERABILITY TO CLIMATE VARIABILITY; Sea ice
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10986/2689; http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/main?menuPK=64187510&pagePK=64193027&piPK=64187937&theSitePK=523679&menuPK=64187510&searchMenuPK=64187283&siteName=WDS&entityID=000333037_20091209223238

Climate change is widely acknowledged as foremost among the formidable challenges facing the international community in the 21st century. It poses challenges to fundamental elements of our understanding of appropriate goals for social and economic policy, such as the connection of prosperity, growth, equity, and sustainable development. This volume seeks to establish an agenda for research and action built on an enhanced understanding of the relationship between climate change and the key social dimensions of vulnerability, social justice, and equity. The volume is organized as follows. This introductory chapter first sets the scene by framing climate change as an issue of social justice at multiple levels, and by highlighting equity and vulnerability as the central organizing themes of an agenda on the social dimensions of climate change. Chapter two leads off with a review of existing theories and frameworks for understanding vulnerability, drawing out implications for pro-poor climate policy. Understanding the multilayered causal structure of vulnerability then can assist in identifying entry points for pro-poor climate policy at multiple levels. Building on such analytical approaches, chapters three and four, respectively, consider the implications of climate change for armed conflict and for migration. Those chapters are followed by a discussion of two of the most important social cleavages that characterize distinct forms of vulnerability to climate change and climate action: gender (chapter five) and ethnicity or indigenous identity (chapter six), in the latter case, focusing on the role of indigenous knowledge in crafting climate response measures in the Latin American and Caribbean region. Chapter seven highlights the important mediating role of local institutions in achieving more equitable, pro-poor outcomes from efforts to support adaptation to climate change. Chapter eight examines the implications of climate change for agrarian societies living in dry-land areas of the developing world, and chapter nine does the same for those living in urban centers. Chapter ten considers the role of social policy instruments in supporting pro-poor adaptation to climate change; and it argues for a focus on 'no-regrets' options that integrate adaptation with existing development approaches, albeit with modifications to take better account of the ways in which climate variables interact with other drivers of vulnerability. Finally, chapter eleven turns to the implications of climate policy and action for forest areas and forest people.