Barnett Jon, Graham Sonia, Quinn Tara, Adger W Neil, Butler Catherine
School of Geography, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia.
School of Geography and Sustainable Communities, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, Australia.
Environ Res Lett. 2021 Dec;16(12):124029. doi: 10.1088/1748-9326/ac36f7. Epub 2021 Nov 24.
Adaptation to climate change is inescapably influenced by processes of social identity-how people perceive themselves, others, and their place in the world around them. Yet there is sparse evidence into the specific ways in which identity processes shape adaptation planning and responses. This paper proposes three key ways to understand the relationship between identity formation and adaptation processes: (a) how social identities change in response to perceived climate change risks and threats; (b) how identity change may be an objective of adaptation; and (c) how identity issues can constrain or enable adaptive action. It examines these three areas of focus through a synthesis of evidence on community responses to flooding and subsequent policy responses in Somerset county, UK and the Gippsland East region in Australia, based on indepth longitudinal data collected among those experiencing and enacting adaptation. The results show that adaptation policies are more likely to be effective when they give individuals confidence in the continuity of their in-groups, enhance the self-esteem of these groups, and develop their sense of self-efficacy. These processes of identity formation and evolution are therefore central to individual and collective responses to climate risks.
对气候变化的适应不可避免地受到社会认同过程的影响，即人们如何看待自己、他人以及他们在周围世界中的位置。然而，关于认同过程塑造适应规划和应对措施的具体方式，证据却很少。本文提出了三种理解认同形成与适应过程之间关系的关键方式：（a）社会认同如何因感知到的气候变化风险和威胁而发生变化；（b）认同变化如何可能成为适应的一个目标；（c）认同问题如何能够限制或促进适应性行动。本文通过综合关于英国萨默塞特郡以及澳大利亚吉普斯兰东区社区对洪水的应对措施及后续政策回应的证据，基于对经历和实施适应过程的人群收集的深入纵向数据，对这三个重点领域进行了研究。结果表明，当适应政策能让个体对其所属群体的延续性有信心、增强这些群体的自尊并培养他们的自我效能感时，这些政策更有可能有效。因此，这些认同形成和演变的过程对于个体和集体应对气候风险至关重要。
