Fairness in Adaptation to Climate Change.

• Position: Book review

Edited by W. Neil Adger, Jouni Paavola, Saleemul Huq, and M.J. Mace. 55 Hayward Street, Cambridge, MA 02142: The MIT Press, November 2006. (800) 405-1619. mitpress.mit.edu. ISBN 0-262-51193-2. 312 pp. $25.00 Paperback.

As a global society, we need to take action not only to prevent the potentially catastrophic effects of climate change but also to adapt to the unavoidable effects of climate change already imposed on the world. Fairness in Adaptation to Climate Change looks at the challenges of ensuring that policy responses to climate change do not place undue and unfair burdens on already vulnerable populations. All countries will be endangered by climate change risks from floods, drought, and other extreme weather events, but developing countries are more dependent on climate-sensitive livelihoods such as farming and fishing and hence are more vulnerable. Despite this, the concerns of developing countries are marginalized in climate policy decisions that exacerbate current vulnerabilities.

Fairness in Adaptation to Climate Change brings together scholars from political science, economics, law, human geography, and climate science to offer the first assessment of the social justice issues in adaptation to climate change. The book outlines...