Three ways social identity shapes climate change adaptation
Barnett, Jon (University of Melbourne. School of Geography)
Graham, Sonia (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals)
Quinn, Tara (University of Exeter. Department of Geography)
Adger, W. Neil (University of Exeter. Department of Geography)
Butler, Catherine (University of Exeter. Department of Geography)

Date:	2021
Abstract:	Adaptation to climate change is inescapably influenced by processes of social identity - how people perceive themselves, others, and their place in the world around them. Yet there is sparse evidence into the specific ways in which identity processes shape adaptation planning and responses. This paper proposes three key ways to understand the relationship between identity formation and adaptation processes: (a) how social identities change in response to perceived climate change risks and threats; (b) how identity change may be an objective of adaptation; and (c) how identity issues can constrain or enable adaptive action. It examines these three areas of focus through a synthesis of evidence on community responses to flooding and subsequent policy responses in Somerset county, UK and the Gippsland East region in Australia, based on indepth longitudinal data collected among those experiencing and enacting adaptation. The results show that adaptation policies are more likely to be effective when they give individuals confidence in the continuity of their in-groups, enhance the self-esteem of these groups, and develop their sense of self-efficacy. These processes of identity formation and evolution are therefore central to individual and collective responses to climate risks.
Grants:	Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad MDM-2015-0552
Note:	Unidad de excelencia María de Maeztu CEX2019-000940-M
Rights:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, la comunicació pública de l'obra i la creació d'obres derivades, fins i tot amb finalitats comercials, sempre i quan es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original.
Language:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió publicada
Subject:	Continuity ; Flood ; Sea-level rise ; Self-efficacy ; Self-esteem ; SDG 5 - Gender Equality ; SDG 13 - Climate Action ; SDG 3 - Good Health and Well-being ; SDG 7 - Affordable and Clean Energy
Published in:	Environmental research letters, Vol. 16, Issue 12 (December 2021) , art. 124029, ISSN 1748-9326

DOI: 10.1088/1748-9326/ac36f7
PMID: 34840601

9 p, 616.6 KB

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Research literature > UAB research groups literature > Research Centres and Groups (research output) > Experimental sciences > Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals (ICTA)
Articles > Research articles
Articles > Published articles