Search the SPREP Catalogue

Being resilent in the face of climate change seems especially important for island societies, which face the effects of rising temperatures, unpredictable rainfall, changing wind patterns and sea level rise. To date, most studies of adaptation and resilience among Pacific island communities have used indicators and methods rooted in Western science and neo-classical economics. These have been criticized as being locally irrelevant and inadequate to appreciate the dynamic nature and social structures of island communities and their capacity to adapt. This paper challenges the paradigm that defines resilience as a return to equilibrium, by using a non-equilibrium, cultural ecological lens. The non-equilibrium view of resilience sees the social systems of island nations as highly dynamic and undergoing persistent adaptation in the face of changing environmental factors. Field-based research undertaken in eight villages in Samoa found that , through constant exposure to environmental change over extended periods of time, communities have become resilient and are in a position to adapt to future changes. In developing future policy in relation to climate change, Pacific island government need to develop a more nuanced understanding of islanders' perceptions and historical actions in the context of both their physical locations and their dynamic socio-cultural systems

Climate change-- our approach: The science of climate change : scale of the environment challenge ; Economics, ethics and climate change ; Ethical frameworks and intertemporal equity -- Impacts of climate change on growth and development: How climate change will affect people around the world ; Implications of climate change for development ; Costs of climate change in developed countries ; Economic modelling of climate-change impacts -- The economics of stabilisation: Projecting the growth of greenhouse-gas emissions ; Climate change and the Kuznets curve ; The challenge of stabilisation ; Identifying the costs of mitigation ; Macroeconomic models of costs ; Structural change and competitiveness ; Key statistics for 123 UK production sectors ; Opportunities and wider benefits from climate policies ; Towards a goal for climate-change policy -- Policy responses for mitigation: Harnessing markets for mitigation : the role of taxation and trading ; Carbon pricing and emission markets in practice ; Accelerating technological innovation ; Beyond carbon markets and technology -- Policy responses for adaptation: Understanding the economics of adaptation ; Adaptation in the developed world ; Adaptation in the developing world -- International collective action: Framework for understanding international collective action for climate change -- Creating a global price for carbon -- Supporting the transition to a low-carbon global economy -- Promoting effective international technology co-operation -- Reversing emissions from land use change -- International support for adaptation -- Conclusions : building and sustaining international co-operation on climate change.

The Review first examines the evidence on the economic impacts of climate change itself, and explores the economics of stabilising greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. The second half of the Review considers the complex policy challenges involved in managing the transition to a low-carbon economy and in ensuring that societies can adapt to the consequences of climate change that can no longer be avoided.