Equity and Vulnerability Neil Adger Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research and CSERGE University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK

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Equity and Vulnerability Neil AdgerTyndall
Centre for Climate Change Researchand
CSERGEUniversity of East Anglia, Norwich, UK
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Vulnerability to environmental change

• Vulnerability is a state (implied negative) which
  is socially determined and related to
  susceptibility to stress and harm.
• It may be function ofExposure to environmental
  variability and changeSensitivity degree to
  which a system is affected by external
  changeAdaptive capacity ability of a system
  to adjust and take opportunities

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Vulnerability of whom and to what?

• Vulnerability is context and scale specific we
  observe the vulnerability
• OF a particular system or social group
• TO particular stresses or outcomes
• Recognising multiple stresses (not exclusively
  environmental or climate)

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Vulnerability and Resilience

• Vulnerability depends on exposure to stress and
  on resilience (both are variable)
• Resilience of social-natural systems defined as
• Amount of change a system can undergo and still
  retain the same characteristics and controls on
  function and structure
• Degree to which a system is capable of
  self-organisation
• Ability to build and increase the capacity for
  learning and adaptation
• see e.g. Resilience Alliance (www.resalliance.org)
  

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Equity and vulnerability

• All elements (stress, resilience and hence
  vulnerability) are socially and spatially
  differentiated
• e.g.
• Justice and fairness principles in vulnerability
• Rights approaches vs. situated universalism
• Security as freedom - access and autonomy

Food security Differentiated by
Production, land, food distribution, food consumption Age and gender, Ethnicity, Social class
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Justice and fairness are about process as well as
outcome

• Distributive Justice
• How equitable are outcomes? Who wins and who
  loses?
• Assessment based on one overarching consequence
  (e.g. welfare), or principle (e.g. equality), or
  both
• Procedural Justice
• Justice in the processes and institutions that
  make decisions
• Includes issues of participation and legitimacy
• Assessment based on outcome, or principle, or both

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e.g. Migration and resilience
Source Locke et al. Changing Places.
Environment 34(6), 2000
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e.g. Migration, equity and vulnerability

• Initial stages of migration rich migrate and
  remittances (often food) reinforce inequality and
  social exclusion
• When established (lower costs) greater
  participation and migration reduces inequality
• Migration often an active strategy to reduce
  vulnerability
• Vulnerability depends on ability to learn,
  autonomy and freedom, resource pressure (i.e.
  social-ecological resilience and equity)
• Source Adger et al, Migration, remittances, and
  social resilience Ambio 31(4), 2002.

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Conclusions

• Vulnerability related to social resilience
• Vulnerability differentiated by class, gender,
  age etc.
• Vulnerability partially determined by
  distribution and access to resources and
  decision-making (e.g. in food)
• Equity and justice in both outcomes and
  procedures