“I'm fixing a hole where the rain gets in, and stops my mind from wandering”: approaching sustainable climate change adaptations

Abstract

Sustainable development is a challenging field of research, colored by the paradoxes of modernity and development, and the tradeoffs involved in balancing the ‘sustainable’ and ‘development’ side of the various sustainable development goals. We must take these overarching challenges into account when entering a more specific discussion of what a concept of sustainable climate change adaptation may entail. This article reviews the history of this concept, including insights provided by the 10 recent publications in a special collection of WCAS on the topic of sustainable climate change adaptation. This collection reflects on why and how the term sustainable development should be included in our understandings of and efforts towards climate change adaptation and proposes a preliminary framework for distinguishing between conventional and sustainable adaptation.