Social Justice and Adaptation in the UK

This research paper examines the social dimensions of vulnerability to climate change in the UK, arguing that adaptation strategies often overlook the distribution of vulnerability among marginalized groups and may inadvertently reinforce existing inequalities.

• Climate change vulnerability regarding high temperatures and fluvial and coastal flooding—specifically in terms of sensitivity, exposure, and the ability to anticipate, respond, and recover—is concentrated among disadvantaged and socially marginalized groups, such as those with low incomes.
• Both planned and autonomous adaptation efforts may fail to protect the most vulnerable populations and can lead to maladaptation, particularly when these strategies rely on unmediated market forces or ignore social vulnerability during design and implementation.
• Current adaptation policies and strategies typically rely on climate impact assessments that do not account for the social nature and distribution of vulnerability, a failure attributed to the limitations of existing evidence and dominant assessment techniques.

APA

Stockholm Environment Institute (2014). Social Justice and Adaptation in the UK. https://www.sei.org/publications/social-justice-and-adaptation-in-the-uk/

Chicago

Stockholm Environment Institute. Social Justice and Adaptation in the UK. 2014. https://www.sei.org/publications/social-justice-and-adaptation-in-the-uk/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Stockholm Environment Institute |title=Social Justice and Adaptation in the UK |date=17 March 2014 |url=https://www.sei.org/publications/social-justice-and-adaptation-in-the-uk/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{stockholmenvironmentinstitute2014social, author = {{Stockholm Environment Institute}}, title = {{Social Justice and Adaptation in the UK}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2014}, month = mar, url = {https://www.sei.org/publications/social-justice-and-adaptation-in-the-uk/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }