Work

Historical legacies and the climate adaptation challenge in New Caledonia, Southwest Pacific

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: This paper reconstructs the long-term Trajectory of exposure and eulnerability (TEV) to coastal climate risks of New Caledonia, Southwest Pacific, to explore how historical legacies continue to deeply influence contemporary climate change adaptation policies. It shows how settlement and land use patterns, as well as socio-political segregation processes inherited from the colonial period, persist in some form today, contributing to both explaining and reinforcing climate risks whilechallenging the emergence of climate adaptation governance arrangements. The analysis further examines how historical legacies shape the institutional and socio-political context that determines how, by whom, and according to which priorities adaptation is defined. It then investigates how these conditions may, in turn, maintain or reproduce historically rooted patterns of exposure and vulnerability. In doing so, the paper advocates for a more systematic consideration of long-term social, spatial and political legacies in the analysis and design of effective adaptation governance systems.

Source: Climate and Development

DOI: 10.1080/17565529.2026.2750838

Authors: Maëlys Girault, Virginie K.E. Duvat, Alexandre K. Magnan

Institutions: Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, LIttoral ENvironnement et Sociétés, La Rochelle Université, Institut Universitaire de France, Cawthron Institute

Language: English

Topic: Sustainability and Climate Change Governance

Subfield: Global and Planetary Change

Field: Environmental Science

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDGs: Climate action, Peace, justice, and strong institutions

Open Access status: green

Funder: Badan Riset dan Inovasi Nasional