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Adaptation and transformation

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Abstract

Transformation as an adaptive response to climate change opens a range of novel policy options. Used to describe responses that produce non-linear changes in systems or their host social and ecological environments, transformation also raises distinct ethical and procedural questions for decision-makers. Expanding adaptation to include transformation foregrounds questions of power and preference that have so far been underdeveloped in adaptation theory and practice. We build on David Harvey’s notion of activity space to derive a framework and research agenda for climate change adaptation seen as a political decision-point and as an opportunity for transformation, incremental adjustment or resistance to change in development pathway. Decision-making is unpacked through the notion of the activity space into seven coevolving sites: the individual, technology, livelihoods, discourse, behaviour, the environment and institutions. The framework is tested against practitioner priorities to define an agenda that can make coherent advances in research and practice on climate change adaptation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. King’s College London, London, UK

    Mark Pelling

  2. University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway

    Karen O’Brien

  3. Save the Children International, London, UK

    David Matyas

Authors
  1. Mark Pelling
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  2. Karen O’Brien
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  3. David Matyas
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mark Pelling.

Additional information

This article is part of a Special Issue on “Advancing Climate Change Adaptation and Risk Management” edited by Joern Birkmann and Reinhard Mechler.

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Pelling, M., O’Brien, K. & Matyas, D. Adaptation and transformation. Climatic Change 133, 113–127 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-014-1303-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-014-1303-0

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