ABSTRACT
With the increasing prominence of climate change in the public and policy agendas, there are growing calls for critical thought regarding the type of response measures that are formulated (Barnett and O’Neill, 2010). For example, it has been pointed out that adjustments to reduce potential damages and realize new opportunities that may arise with such changes are not necessarily all benign (Adger et al., 2007; Eriksen and Selboe, 2013). Like any other intervention or action, adaptation aimed at one particular group or purpose can have negative effects on other groups or in the long term (Eriksen and O’Brien, 2007; Barnett and O’Neill, 2010). This concern is the motivation for the term “sustainable adaptation,” that is “adaptation that contributes to socially and environmentally sustainable development pathways, including both social justice and environmental integrity” (Eriksen et al., 2011: 8). How can the term sustainable adaptation inform how we respond to climate change?
