Adaptation limits as sufficiency entitlements of justice

Abstract

Overstepping adaptation limits is often conceived as a negative impact to be avoided. This assertion towards adaptation limits implicitly assumes distributive entitlements of communities and their members. By reviewing different principles of distributive justice, this paper suggests sufficientarianism to be best suited to capture these entitlements. We argue that, in the context of climate adaptation, a sufficientarian approach can best deal with the challenges faced by egalitarian and prioritarian principles. In the literature on climate justice, sufficiency thresholds in adaptation have most recently been defined in terms of capabilities to live a decent human life or as the capabilities necessary for climate resilience.