The browser you are using is not supported by this website. All versions of Internet Explorer are no longer supported, either by us or Microsoft (read more here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/windows/end-of-ie-support).

Please use a modern browser to fully experience our website, such as the newest versions of Edge, Chrome, Firefox or Safari etc.

Emily Boyd

Emily Boyd

Professor, Docent

Emily Boyd

The promises and pitfalls of ecosystem-based adaptation to climate change as a vehicle for social empowerment

Author

  • Stephen Woroniecki
  • Christine Wamsler
  • Emily Boyd

Summary, in English

Ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) to climate change is an approach claimed to deliver social benefits relevant to marginalized groups. Based on a structured literature review, we interrogate such claims, asking whether such approaches may (or may not) contribute to social change and, more specifically, empowerment. We present a review of the predominant meaning and interlinkages of the EbA and empowerment concepts, which shows that EbA pays insufficient attention to issues of empowerment and agency. On this basis, we discuss how an empowerment lens could be (better) integrated into the conceptualization of EbA, suggesting key dimensions through which this could be supported. We show that the emphasis on empowerment theory and the merits that it brings to the EbA literature are helpful, leading to a number of important questions to adaptation projects on the ground. Incorporating an empowerment lens leads to an increased consideration of issues of power more broadly, especially the way marginalized groups’ agency, access, and aspirations are conditioned by social structures that may prevent strategic adaptation choices. We conclude that EbA will facilitate empowerment better by explicitly considering how social benefits can emerge from the interplay between particular types of actions, marginalized people’s adaptive strategies, and their relational context.

Department/s

  • LUCSUS (Lund University Centre for Sustainability Studies)

Publishing year

2019-06-01

Language

English

Publication/Series

Ecology and Society

Volume

24

Issue

2

Document type

Journal article

Publisher

The Resilience Alliance

Topic

  • Environmental Sciences
  • Sociology (excluding Social Work, Social Psychology and Social Anthropology)

Keywords

  • agency
  • climate change
  • ecosystem-based adaptation
  • empowerment
  • nature-based solutions

Status

Published

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 1708-3087