Resilience

• Despite receiving relatively little traction in climate change discussions among scholars and policymakers in the early 1990s, the term ‘climate resilience’ is now moving rapidly into prominent policy arenas and academic fora. However, how useful is the term in enabling normative aspirations to reduce net losses to climate change impacts? In this chapter, we first take stock of this seemingly rapid rise in the use of the term by presenting an overview of the progress and ongoing discussions on ‘climate resilience.’ This chapter illustrates these trends based on evidence of the terms’ growth and evolution over the years in two realms: within academia and in public policy. In both cases, we find an increasing trend in the way ‘climate resilience’ is conceptualized and used in academia and in public policy, yet these trends present different challenges and consequences for each case. Taking a problem-oriented approach, we conclude that despite the term’s popularity and growth, a critical review of its measurable effectiveness and pragmatic utility is still needed. Evaluating the terms utility in application is particularly important in light of recent conceptualizations of the climate resilience imperative as ‘transformation’ in a changing climate. We recommend some possible avenues for further research to address this deficit.

Subject headings

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Social och ekonomisk geografi (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Social and Economic Geography (hsv//eng)

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Geovetenskap och miljövetenskap (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Earth and Related Environmental Sciences (hsv//eng)

Keyword

environment

climate change

environmental governance and regulation

environmental politics and policy

politics and public policy

environmental governance and regulation

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

kap (subject category)