Reframing Global Climate Change: A Duty to Adapt for Vulnerable Communities

P. Brian Fisher

[Sample Chapter]

Chapter 1: Global Climate Change in a Social Justice Context

[Outline]

Dissertation Outline

The dissertation focuses on adaptation to climate change in vulnerable communities within a context of climate justice. The focal case studies are Tuvalu and the Inuit, which are representative of many vulnerable communities in that climate change already threatens the way of life and potential survival. It employs mixed methodological techniques designed to triangulate climate data, primarily through original quantitative data derived from survey questionnaires and in-depth qualitative interviews. The main thesis is that biophysical changes exacerbate environmental conditions and create entirely new environmental and human hazards, imperiling human security in an unprecedented way. From this perspective, the cases demonstrate that climate change is much more than an environmental issue, one bound by simple accountings of greenhouse gas emissions and tradable credits; rather, it is a social justice problem bound by multiple human security issues, which will perpetuate global inequality and marginalization. This conclusion challenges current approaches to climate change, and illustrates that present solutions are, at their core, limited and unjust. The final chapter builds on this conclusion by exploring how to produce equitable multi-scale climate policy that embraces a fundamental duty toward adaptation.

    Committee:    Cecelia Lynch (UCI), Chair

                                   Associate Professor, Political Science and International Studies; Director, Center for Global Peace and Conflict Studies

                                   Richard Matthew (UCI)

                                Associate Professor, Planning, Policy & Design, School of Social Ecology; Director, Center for Unconventional Security Affairs

                                Alison Brysk (UCI)

                                    Professor, Political Science

                                Paul Wapner (American University)

                                                Associate Professor; Director of Global Environmental Policy Program, School of International Service