Social limits to climate change adaptation: temporalities in behavioural responses to climate risks

Abstract

Social constraints and limits on adaptation are strongly influenced by the rates at which climate-influenced risks emerge and the speed of the coping response, including the pace at which adaptative changes can be made. This short review assesses how adaptation limits are shaped by extreme events, changing probabilities of extreme events under climate change, the future evolution of adaptation options and strategies, the emergence of cascading or systemic risks and historical patterns of social relations. While adaptation limits are expressed by tipping points in the behaviours of social actors, this behaviour is framed by intersecting temporalities (cultural, economic, technical and political) operating through social systems. Greater awareness of these temporalities will help improve our capacity to analyse and predict the social tipping points, which are evidence of adaptation limits, improving the capacity of international and public policy to target resources at the most vulnerable.