Adaptation in the Anthropocene: issues of justice in national adaptation programmes of action
Year: 2017
Type: conference-paper
Abstract: Adaptation is and will continue to be an opportunity to tackle the effects of climate change with the potential to address or exacerbate issues of justice. Adaptation activities and governance can support or derail just transitions and just futures. This is of particular importance for vulnerable communities, who contribute less to the drivers of climate change, but are burdened with more of the effects. In recognition of global inequalities and the specific vulnerabilities of least developed countries (LDCs), the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) developed National Adaptation Programmes of Action (NAPAs). NAPAs are a way for LDCs to determine and communicate their urgent adaptation needs and provide an avenue for adaptation activities to be funded. This paper analyses the considerations of justice that are inscribed in NAPA reports submitted to the UNFCCC. In doing so, it will examine issues of distributive justice and procedural justice embedded in the NAPA reports and preparation process. While the broad idea of NAPAs addresses issues of inequality and justice at a global scale, by applying to LDCs, this paper questions whether these rhetorical commitments to justice are actualised in the reports and whether a commitment to justice is carried through to the most vulnerable communities within countries. NAPAs can be seen as a governance tool that in theory can address issues of justice. Fair and transparent governance, planning and implementation of adaptation measures is necessary to avoid exacerbating existing inequalities and the creation of new injustices within and between current and future generations. This paper aims to contribute to this symposium by providing insights into the justice considerations in NAPAs.
Author: White, Abbie
Language: English
Subfield: Global and Planetary Change
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2907186441