'Climate and Development' - special issue published

A special issue of Climate and Development, available now, makes an urgent contribution to the global debate on climate change adaptation.

As adaptation becomes increasingly necessary over the next decade we need to understand its wider, long-term consequences. Not all adaptation is good in terms of social equity, environmental integrity or sustainable development, and there is a danger that responses to climate change can aggravate the problem.

It is time to shift away from devising lists of actions and measures and instead to treat adaptation as a process and a way to bring about societal transformation. Adaptation responses need to be critically examined, from ground-level actions through to policy and theory.

Such insights call for new approaches to adaptation. We must shift the boundaries of adaptation theory and praxis, and address the underlying causes of vulnerability and poverty in devising responses to climate change.

This special issue offers new knowledge and opinion in this emerging field of 'sustainable adaptation'. The articles present empirical evidence from diverse contexts such as Vietnam, Kenya, and the UK, and discuss the conceptual and practical challenges of how to understand adaptation through the lens of sustainability.

Editorial contact: Tom Gill cdev@sei.se

Publisher contact: cdev@earthscan.co.uk

Click here to download key articles from the issue free of charge.

About Climate and Development

Established in 2009, Climate and Development is the first academic journal dedicated to the range of issues that arise when climate variability, climate change and climate policy are considered along with development needs, impacts and priorities. It aims to make complex analysis of climate and development issues accessible to a wide audience of researchers, policymakers and practitioners, and to facilitate debate between the diverse constituencies active in these fields throughout the world. The journal's founder and editor-in-chief is Professor Richard Klein, Stockholm Environment Institute.