Adaptation to Climate Change in Policy: Dos and Don’ts

As proposed efforts to mitigate climate change in the United States are continually opposed by conservative voters and policymakers [1], proposals that instead look to shield our communities from the realities of a warming climate sound less like dystopic fiction and more like necessary avenues of action. As environmental columnist David Roberts wrote in 2014, “Both mitigation and adaption are necessary at this point. But for every day mitigation is delayed, the need for adaptation grows…” [2]

 

Environmental disasters are making headlines more often, and this pattern can be seen across the globe: at the time of writing, floods across the Midwest that may last months [3] are matched by ‘inland seas’ covering southern Africa in the wake of a tropical cyclone [4] and the intensity of the disasters in both areas has been linked to climate change. Adapting to global warming isn’t an attempt to embrace living on a warmer planet as an alternative to saving a cooler one – it’s becoming a necessity to survive. In response to natural disasters, some organizations and communities in the States have already started, with policies ranging from consumption limits [5] to reimagined urban planning [6] to broader sustainability plans [7]. The following is a look at a couple examples that have worked to make positive change, and a few that haven’t.

 

Do: Focus on the communities that are most vulnerable

 

In 2014, the EPA released a document describing the organization’s position on climate change adaptation [8]. While the document reflects a mindset about climate change that is no longer representative of the EPA’s current mission due to the shift in leadership ushered in by a new presidential administration, it provides valuable insight into the role of a governing body in approaching climate adaptation. The policy statement places an emphasis on the portion of the population that will experience the impacts of climate change first and most directly: the poor, elderly, and minority groups in this country. If the purpose of climate change adaptation is to minimize human suffering that result from climate-related issues, it is important to understand where efforts should be directed. Since poorer communities are often those least able to protect themselves from the impact of climate change, they often require the most outside support.

 

Don’t: Take advantage of those very communities

 

Over a decade ago, Hurricane Katrina devastated the Louisiana coastline. Many poor, primarily African American communities were disproportionally impacted compared to adjacent neighborhoods due to a history of purposefully biased urban planning and flood protection. In response, the city of New Orleans proposed several attempts at adaptation in order to limit the impact that a similar storm could have on the city in the future [9]. One involved replacing destroyed neighborhoods with green spaces: parks that would hopefully absorb more water and act as further barriers against hurricane foods. The problem lied in distribution. The planned ‘flood-absorbing’ spaces were nearly entirely in poor, Black neighborhoods while the richer neighborhoods nearby were being rebuilt. This particular plan received enough push-back by the community to be abandoned, but the ability of poorer communities to advocate for their cause is generally lower than that of neighboring communities dealing with the same issues [10]. Several other examples of inequitable adaptation plans can be found here: [11]

 

Do: Change the public mindset on personal responsibility and sustainability

 

Climate change doesn’t just manifest itself in sudden natural disasters. Regions that historically have been hot and dry, including much of the American Southwest, are experiencing more extreme conditions than they may be prepared to handle. Over much of the last decade, the state of California experienced the worst drought in recorded history [12]. During this time, the state government took several actions to address water shortages, from strict water restrictions to opening of dams and moratoriums on fishing to preserve fish populations in depleted watersheds.

 

Political capital for environmental regulation requires a populace that believes in change and is willing to sacrifice quality of life to maintain a sustainable community. When faced with an ecological disaster, this public will is easy to accumulate. But reacting to disasters as they arrive is dangerous, especially considering how much we already know now about the extent of climate change. The public must be willing to support restrictions that limit inefficiencies or actively disincentivize environmentally harmful actions– even if that means a lack of lawns, lighter showers, or drastically increased prices on beef.

 

Don’t: Ignore the biggest polluters (hint: it’s not just people who shower)

 

Even as California’s Governor Brown was restricting personal water usage across the state, the California agricultural sector was given no such constraints [13]. This garnered criticism –80% of California’s developed water supply is consumed by the agricultural industry. While consideration for the importance of agriculture to providing food and stimulating the economy is valid, the decision to ignore the state’s largest consumer of water was a result of lobbying, not analyses of food necessities and economic reliance [14].

 

The Sociological Need for Adaptation

 

Adaptation to climate change is often presented as an opposition to efforts of mitigation. From a purely economic standpoint, there’s truth to that comparison. The huge amount of effort spent on buoying an inherently unsustainable community (one that lives at sea level yet is powered by carbon emissions, for example) could be considered wasted. We’ve seen that such efforts are not always distributed equitably. But reality is more complicated. Drastic changes to our society are slow to occur, even in the face of as pressing an issue as climate change. When the effects of climate change are already visible, to ignore adaptation would be ignoring our country’s most vulnerable, and the sociopolitical implications of climate change are just as widely impacting as its environmental effects [15]. ‘An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,’ may be an applicable maxim to climate change, but both prevention and cure are important for a world that is already sick.

 

Footnotes:

 

  1. Pew Research Center. The Politics of Climate. https://www.pewresearch.org/science/2016/10/04/the-politics-of-climate/
  2. Roberts, David. Preventing climate change and adapting to it are not morally equivalent. Grist. https://grist.org/climate-energy/preventing-climate-change-and-adapting-to-it-are-not-morally-equivalent/
  3. Kelley, Tyler J. The Fight to Tame a Swelling River With Dams That May Be Outmatched by Climate Change. New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/21/climate/missouri-river-flooding-dams-climate.html
  4. Onishi, Norimitsu. Flooding in Mozambique From Cyclone Idai Made an ‘Inland Ocean,’ Stalling Rescues. New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/19/world/africa/mozambique-cyclone.html
  5. Reyes-Velarde, Alejandra. California will have water consumption limits for the first time after ‘landmark’ legislation passed. L. A. Times. https://www.latimes.com/socal/glendale-news-press/news/tn-gnp-me-water-efficiency-bill-20180601-story.html
  6. Berg, Nate. Lots to lose: how cities around the world are eliminating car parks. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/sep/27/cities-eliminating-car-parks-parking
  7. Climate Action Plan. Baltimore Office of Sustainability. https://www.baltimoresustainability.org/plans/climate-action-plan/
  8. Policy Statement on Climate Change US Environmental Protection Agency. https://archive.epa.gov/epa/sites/production/files/2016-08/documents/adaptation-statement-2014.pdf
  9. Bliss, Laura. When Climate Adaptation Plans Hurt the Urban Poor. https://www.citylab.com/design/2016/07/when-climate-adaptation-hurts-the-urban-poor/492263/
  10. Weeks, Daniel. Why Are the Poor and Minorities Less Likely to Vote? The Atlantic. https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2014/01/why-are-the-poor-and-minorities-less-likely-to-vote/282896/
  11. Anguelovski, Isabelle, et al. Equity Impacts of Urban Land Use Planning for Climate Adaptation: Critical Perspectives from the Global North and South. Journal of Planning Education and Research. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0739456X16645166
  12. California Drought: 2011 – 2017. National Integrated Drought Information System. https://www.drought.gov/drought/california-no-stranger-dry-conditions-drought-2011-2017-was-exceptional
  13. Sanchez, Ray. Low California snowpack ushers mandatory water restrictions. https://www.cnn.com/2015/04/01/us/california-water-restrictions-drought/
  14. Holthaus, Eric. California Imposes First-Ever Mandatory Water Restrictions. They’re Not Nearly Enough. https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2015/04/california-water-restrictions-jerry-brown-takes-action-but-gives-the-agriculture-industry-a-pass.html
  15. The Social Dimensions of Climate Change. World Health Organization. https://www.who.int/globalchange/mediacentre/events/2011/social-dimensions-of-climate-change.pdf

7 thoughts on “Adaptation to Climate Change in Policy: Dos and Don’ts

  1. I really liked the structure of this post Yoav – it was really effective and informative in conveying the strengths and weaknesses that these adaptation policies can have. I had not really thought about the distinctions between adaptation and mitigation policies before and I thought your points were important issues that policies should focus on. In particular, the point you made about thinking about both the public and the biggest polluters was very intriguing to me. I completely agree with the criticism that the Californian public had with the water usage restrictions in this case, but I also can see the difficulties in making change within an industry that is responsible for a large part of the economy and the country’s food supply. It will be interesting to see how or if this question of who bears the burden of adaptation vs. who produces the pollution plays out in the future.

  2. I like the examples you included in this post, they really helped to illustrate your points. When I was researching climate change policy, I spent a fair amount of time learning about California’s adaptation policies. It is interesting to see a state take such a strong stance both on combatting climate change through emission reductions and on adapting to the changing climate and the impact it is having on the world. I guess, as you said, it is a necessity for California to adapt to the wildfires and droughts. The point about the public having to be willing to change lifestyles to combat global warming is a good one. A lot of people want to contribute to the cause, and it can really start at home, by taking shorter showers, eating more environmentally sustainable foods, and reducing waste.

  3. When I did a mock UN climate change negotiation last semester, I represented the developing nation of Tuvalu, a chain of tiny islands in the South Pacific with about 12,000 citizens. During the negotiation, I was placed on the floor in the corner while the developing countries were at the table negotiating. My teacher joked that her mock negotiation instructions told her to throw a blue blanket over the Tuvalu representative during the negotiation process to signify that we were being covered in water while every other nation ignored us. I think this signifies an important point about mitigation and adaptation efforts: sometimes mitigation efforts come too late, and it is the most vulnerable people that are first impacted, as you mentioned.

    In the United States, adaptation is crucially important in different areas for different reasons from those dealing with melting permafrost in Alaska to increased sea level rise in Florida to increased hurricanes across the South to increased wildfire events in California. You have described advice for how to equitably and sustainably deal with adaptation in our country, and I agree with your points. Adaptation for us will mean largescale investment in sustainable infrastructure and better building codes that put houses in less risky areas.

    It is hard for me, however, for me to come to terms with what adaptation means in areas like Tuvalu that realistically will not make it if climate change continues to worsen at the rates we have already set in motion. More likely than not, adaptation for Tuvalu will mean planning to leave their homes forever. Soon their islands will sink into the sea, all because we collectively failed to stop climate change from worsening. Adaptation in this context means something entirely different because no adaptation measures will not be enough to ameliorate the effects of climate change. They will be powerless to stop their islands from being covered even as they call out for change with voices lost to the wind.

  4. Although you argue at the beginning that many conservatives oppose climate change mitigation strategies, many conservatives are actually in favor of a revenue-neutral carbon tax and dividend system. This system taxes fuels when they enter the economy and the tax revenue is given to American citizens in the form of a equal dividend. That being said, I agree with you that conservatives largely oppose other climate change mitigation strategies like cap-and-trade.

    I agree with you that we need to focus on adaptation as well as mitigation. As more natural disasters occur due to climate change like hurricanes, the issue of environmental justice becomes prevalent. For instance, you give the example of Hurricane Katrina. Many poor, primarily African American communities were disproportionally impacted by Katrina compared to adjacent neighborhoods due to a history of biased urban planning and flood protection. As more and more natural disasters occur, we need adaptation to help mitigate environmental discrimination.

  5. I love the structure of this post! I felt it effectively conveyed the intended message. I think it highlights the importance of equity when discussing climate change legislation. For some, it may be easy to push problems and side effects on other, often marginalized communities. Many times, these effects are then amplified as the communities are very prone to change and degradation due to these issues. I think it is incredibly important for everyone to realize this as climate change becomes more and more central to legislation.

  6. This post was well structured, and it is a good reflection on the important aspects of climate change regulation. I really like how you filtered this into a basic list, and I think that these truly are the most important things to keep in mind when thinking of community based climate regulation. Each of these case studies represent larger problems that have occurred throughout the United States. I think the point on focusing on the communities that are most vulnerable is very valid, but I do think a lot is already being done in these often coastal communities. I think another point should be that everyone across the United States should learn the lessons that were already learned in other areas. For instance, Seattle has a problem with plastic washing up on their shores, so they banned plastic straws. Other communities should take notes and make those same bans to protect Seattle’s shores. Communities should also take notes from New Orleans and make sure to not bid environmentalism against social justice like they are doing in the Elizabeth Street Garden.

  7. I also enjoyed the structure of this post, I thought your ideas were well-articulated, and that you focused on overarching themes that could be applied to various locations. I think an essential aspect of climate change adaptation is climate change migration, which is already happening. Here, I think that maxim of focusing on vulnerable populations is especially salient because those who are often most impacted by climate change often don’t have the means to just uproot to another city or country where they wouldn’t face these issues. How can we help climate migrants through equitable policy solutions?

Leave a Reply to Ake Kankirawatana Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.