Skip to main content

Culture, Economics, and Climate Change Adaptation

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Business and Policy Solutions to Climate Change

Abstract

Culture provides a foundation for worldview. Historically, it has been aligned with a religious or spiritual perspective, simultaneously shaped by and affecting the environment. With the establishment of the current global market economy, the economic framework, which is consistent with some religious perceptions related to human dominance over planetary resources, has influenced culture. This has led to high resource use and a consumer focus. However, the externalities related to market-defined economic progress are inconsistent with human and environmental well-being; they are in fact a primary contributor to the speed with which climate change is accelerating. This chapter highlights active stakeholder engagement as a tool to modify human action and the operation of the economic system to ultimately align human behavior with climate change adaptation.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 169.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 219.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 219.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Anielski, M. (2002). The Alberta GPI: Economy, GDP, and trade. Pembina Institute. https://www.pembina.org/reports/01.GPI_EconomyGDPandTrade_techrpt.pdf

    Google Scholar 

  • Ballantyne, T. (2011). Genesis 1:28 and the Languages of Colonial Improvement in Victorian New Zealand. Victorian Review, 37(2), 9–13. Retrieved June 23, 2021, from http://www.jstor.org.ezproxy.neu.edu/stable/23646649

  • Bao, W., Liu, B., Rong, S., Dai, S. Y., Trasande, L., & Lehmler, H. (2020). Association between Bisphenol A Exposure and Risk of All-cause and Cause-specific Mortality in US Adults. JAMA Network Open, 3(8). https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.11620

  • Borrell, B. (2010). Bisphenol A Link to Heart Disease Confirmed. Nature. https://doi.org/10.1038/news.2010.7

  • Borrelle, S., & Rochman, C. (2019). No Silver Bullet Solution to Plastic Pollution. Ocean Conservancy. https://oceanconservancy.org/blog/2019/02/01/no-silver-bullet-solution-plastic-pollution/

  • Bosello, F., Carraro, C., & De Cian, E. (2012). Third Copenhagen Consensus: Climate Change Adaptation Assessment. Copenhagen Consensus Center. https://www.copenhagenconsensus.com/publication/climate-change-adaptation

  • Bosetti, C., Gallus, S., Talamini, R., Montella, M., Franceschi, S., Negri, E., & La Vecchia, C. (2009). Artificial sweeteners and the risk of gastric, pancreatic, and endometrial cancers in Italy. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Preview, 18(8), 2235–2238. https://doi.org/10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-09-0365. PMID: 19661082.

  • Bradley, C. (2009). The Interconnectedness between Religious Fundamentalism, Spirituality, and the Four Dimensions of Empathy. Review of Religious Research, 51(2), 201–219.

    Google Scholar 

  • Claudio, L. (2007). Waste couture: Environmental impact of the clothing industry. Environmental Health Perspectives, 115(9), A448–A454.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ferguson, C., & Hirt, P. (2018). Power to the People: Grassroots Advocacy for Environmental Protection and Democratic Governance. In C. Miller & J. Crane (Eds.), The Nature of Hope: Grassroots Organizing, Environmental Justice, and Political Change (pp. 52–76). University Press of Colorado.

    Google Scholar 

  • Franklin, P. (n.d.). Plastic Water Bottles Should No Longer be a Wasted Resource. Container Recycling Institute. https://www.container-recycling.org/index.php/issues/…/275-down-the-drain#:~:text=Health%2Dconscious%20Americans%20are%20consuming,70%20million%20bottles%20each%20day.&text=More%20than%2060%20million%20plastic%20bottles%20end%20up%20in%20landfills,about%2022%20billion%20last%20year

  • Freeman, R. E. (1984). Strategic Management: A Stakeholder Approach. Pitman.

    Google Scholar 

  • Freeman, R. E., Harrison, J., & Wicks, A. (2007). Managing for Stakeholders: Survival, Reputation, and Success (pp. 74–102). Yale University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Freudenberg, N., & Steinsapir, C. (1991). Not in Our Backyards: The Grassroots Environmental Movement. Society & Natural Resources, 4(3), 235–245.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fridays for the Future. (2021). https://fridaysforfuture.org/what-we-do/actions/

  • Geyer, R., Jambeck, J. R., & Law, K. L. (2017). Production, Use, and Fate of All Plastics Ever Made. Science Advances, 3(7), e1700782.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gibbs, L., & Livesey, S. (2003). ORGANIZING AND LEADING THE GRASSROOTS: An Interview with Lois Gibbs, Love Canal Homeowners’ Association Activist, Founder of Citizens Clearinghouse for Hazardous Waste, and Executive Director of the Center for Health, Environment and Justice. Organization & Environment, 16(4), 488–503. https://doi.org/10.1177/1086026603259099

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gleik, P. H. (2010). Bottled and Sold: The Story Behind Our Obsession with Bottled Water. IslandPress.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gregory, P. (1947). A Theory Of Purposeful Obsolescence. Southern Economic Journal, 14(1), 24–45.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guiltinan, J. (2009). Creative Destruction and Destructive Creations: Environmental Ethics and Planned Obsolescence. Journal of Business Ethics, 89, 19–28.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hardin, R. (2009). Culture. In How Do You Know?: The Economics of Ordinary Knowledge (pp. 161–184). Princeton University Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Hinterthuer, A. (2008). Safety Dance over Plastic. Scientific American, 299(3), 108–111.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holthaus, G. (2008). Defining Sustainability. In Learning Native Wisdom: What Traditional Cultures Teach Us about Subsistence, Sustainability, and Spirituality (pp. 122–129). University Press of Kentucky.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • International Labour Organization. (2019). Child Labour in Mining and Global Supply Chains. International Labour Organization. https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/%2D%2D-asia/%2D%2D-ro-bangkok/%2D%2D-ilo-manila/documents/publication/wcms_720743.pdf

  • Ives, C., & Kidwell, J. (2019). Religion and Social Values for Sustainability. Sustainability Science, 14, 1355–1362.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Loh, P. (2003). We Must all be Accountable in a Grassroots Movement. Race, Poverty & the Environment, 10(1), 28–28.

    Google Scholar 

  • McCarthy J. J., Canziani, O. F., Leary, N. A., Dokken, D. J., & White, K. S. (eds.) (2001). Climate Change 2001: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability. Contribution of Working Group II to the third Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge University Press

    Google Scholar 

  • McCloskey, D. (1996). Missing Ethics in Economics. In A. Klamer (Ed.), The Value of Culture: On the Relationship between Economics and Arts (pp. 187–202). Amsterdam University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • McNeeley, S., & Lazrus, H. (2014). The Cultural Theory of Risk for Climate Change Adaptation. Weather, Climate, and Society, 6(4), 506–519.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mitchell, R., Agle, B., & Wood, D. (1997). Toward a Theory of Stakeholder Identification and Salience: Defining the Principle of Who and What Really Counts. The Academy of Management Review, 22(4), 853–886.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mokyr, J. (2017). Culture and Economics. In A Culture of Growth: The Origins of the Modern Economy (pp. 3–15). Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Monroe, L. (2014). Tailoring Product Stewardship and Extended Producer Responsibility To Prevent Marine Plastic Pollution. Tulane Environmental Law Journal, 27(2), 219–236.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ostrom, E. (1998). A Behavioral Approach to the Rational Choice Theory of Collective Action: Presidential Address, American Political Science Association, 1997. The American Political Science Review, 92(1), 1–22.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pade-Khene, C., Luton, R., Jordaan, T., Hildbrand, S., Proches, C. G., Sitshaluza, A., Dominy, J., Ntshinga, W., & Moloto, N. (2013). Complexity of Stakeholder Interaction in Applied Research. Ecology and Society, 18(2). https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-05405-180213

  • Philipsen, D. (2015). TODAY’S ABC OF GDP. In The Little Big Number: How GDP Came to Rule the World and What to Do about It (pp. 143–159). Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Poulos, H. (2015). How do Grassroots Environmental Protests Incite Innovation? In C. Hager & M. Haddad (Eds.), Nimby Is Beautiful: Cases of Local Activism and Environmental Innovation Around the World (pp. 15–32). Berghahn Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Richardson, J. (2009, October 2). Big Thinking on Small Grants. http://www.janisfoster.com/2009/10/what-do-we-mean-by-grassroots.html

  • Smith, A. (1869). Essays On, I. Moral Sentiments: II. Astronomical Inquiries; III. Formation of Languages; IV. History of Ancient Physics; V. Ancient Logic and Metaphysics; VI. The Imitative Arts; VII. Music, Dancing, Poetry; VIII. The External Senses; IX. English and Italian Verses, ed. Joseph Black and James Hutton. Alex. Murray & Son.

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith, A. (1976). An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations. University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sustainable Practices. (2020). Revenue Impact of Bottle Ban. Sustainable Practices Internal report. Unpublished.

    Google Scholar 

  • Szasz, A. (2016). Consumption. In J. Adamson, W. Gleason, & D. Pellow (Eds.), Keywords for Environmental Studies (pp. 44–47). NYU Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • The Berkley Ecological Center. (1996, April 8). Berkley Plastics Task Force. https://ecologycenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/PTF_1996.pdf

  • Toossi, M. (2002). Consumer Spending: An Engine for U.S. Job Growth. Monthly Labor Review, 125(11), 12–22.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tucker, M. (2008). World religions, the Earth Charter, and Sustainability. Worldviews, 12(2/3), 115–128.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • UNESCO. (2017). Culture and development. http://www.unesco.org/new/en/culture/themes/culture-and-development/

  • UNESCO. (2019). Culture for Sustainable Development. https://en.unesco.org/themes/culture-sustainable-development

  • Venkatesan, M., Erickson, J., & Carmichael, C. (2020). The Rationale and Principles for Engagement in an Ecological Economy. In R. Costanza, J. Erickson, J. Farley, & I. Kubisewski (Eds.), Sustainable Wellbeing Futures: A Research and Action Agenda for Ecological Economics (pp. 300–314). Edgar Elvers.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • White, L., Jr. (1967). The Historical Roots of Our Ecological Crisis. Science, 155, 1203–1207.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • World Wildlife Fund. (2013, January 16). The Impact of a Cotton T-Shirt. https://www.worldwildlife.org/stories/the-impact-of-a-cotton-t-shirt

  • Wyss, R. (2016). Grand Canyon. In The Man Who Built the Sierra Club: A Life of David Brower (pp. 187–206). Columbia University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zein-Elabdin, E. (2009). Economics, Postcolonial Theory and the Problem of Culture: Institutional Analysis and Hybridity. Cambridge Journal of Economics, 33(6), 1153–1167.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Madhavi Venkatesan .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2022 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Venkatesan, M. (2022). Culture, Economics, and Climate Change Adaptation. In: Walker, T., Wendt, S., Goubran, S., Schwartz, T. (eds) Business and Policy Solutions to Climate Change. Palgrave Studies in Sustainable Business In Association with Future Earth. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-86803-1_10

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics