SOCIAL DIMENSIONS OF CLIMATE CHANGE EQUITY AND VULNERABILITY IN A WARMING WORLD

Author: Robin Mearns and Andrew Norton

Year: 2010

Category: Books

Abstract

For too long, global warming has been viewed as tomorrow’s problem. The overwhelming evidence now suggests that climate change exacerbates existing development challenges, further exposing the vulnerability of the poor, and pushing those living on the margins closer to the edge. For those people most at risk, climate change is a crisis today. The rights, interests, and needs of those affected must take center stage as an issue of global social justice. This volume brings together the fi nal versions of papers that were presented fi rst at an international workshop on the social dimensions of climate change, held by the World Bank in Washington, DC, on March 5–6, 2008. Other chapters were commissioned for this volume. A full report of the workshop is available separately. Taken together, these publications aim to amplify the voices of those people who are most at risk from climate change and to establish the basis for a compelling research and policy agenda on the social dimensions of climate change. Our goal at the World Bank is to help developing countries realize the promise of sustainable development through the progressive achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. Our vision is to contribute to an inclusive and sustainable globalization—to overcome poverty, enhance growth with care for the environment, and create individual opportunity and hope. Climate change alters the context of this work and thus demands new approaches, policies, and tools to help developing countries meet the challenges of reconciling climate action with the development and growth agenda. For many years, the World Bank has been a focal point for fi nancing on climate change, and today it is a major lender for renewable energy and energy effi ciency. We also are at the forefront of developing the carbon market. The newly adopted Climate Investment Funds and Strategic Framework on Development and Climate Change enhance our capacity to facilitate demonstration, deployment, and transfer of low-carbon technologies; and they increase our focus on building climate resilience in vulnerable nations. Building on the foundation laid in the March 2008 workshop, the World Bank’s Social Development Department is now leading efforts to promote socially inclusive, climate-resilient policies and operations in client countries. I am confi dent that the innovative global agenda described in this volume will contribute to a more holistic analysis of climate change impacts on human and social systems; increase our understanding of vulnerability; and strengthen our capacity to build social justice, accountability, and equity into climate policy.

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