A values‐based approach to vulnerability and adaptation to climate change

Abstract

Values play a significant role in climate change debates. To date, however, the use of the term values has been narrowly focused on monetary worth, relative worth, or fair return on exchanges. This article argues that another, broader interpretation of values, one concentrating on intrinsically desirable principles or qualities is needed to understand and respond to climate change. How to respond to climate change impacts depends importantly on what the effects of climate change mean to those affected. Similarly, what is considered as effective and legitimate adaptation depends on what people perceive to be worth preserving and achieving. How to adapt to climate change therefore hinges on the values underlying people's perspectives on what the goals of adaptation should be. This article examines what a values-based approach is, why it is needed, and what its benefits for understanding adaptation are. The implications for research and policy are discussed.  2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. WIREs Clim Change 2010 1 232-242T he concept of values has played a significant role in climate change debates. There have been many discussions about present and future values, discounted values, the value of climate policies, the value of a human life, the utility value of a project, and so on. [1][2][3][4] Yet all of these usages relate to very narrow definitions of values, namely monetary worth, relative worth, or a fair return on exchanges, all of which are typically measured or calculated as numerical quantities. Only recently has another interpretation of values entered into climate change discourses-values relating to principles or qualities that are intrinsically desirable. The emergence of this broader and subjective interpretation of values is not surprising, given that it is now understood by many scientists and policymakers that climate change is occurring, and that, regardless of efforts to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, societies will both experience and have to adapt to impacts. 5 Conditions and experiences that are subjectively and differentially valued will be affected by climate change.

Local is not always better: the impact of climate information on values, behavior and policy support

“…This study contributes to emerging work on people's value orientations and their engagement with climate change (see Corner et al 2014;O'Brien and Wolf 2010). Clearly, followup research is needed to shed more light on the relationship between climate information and value orientations in order to better understand to what extent the expression of values depends on information provision and under which conditions such information may be counterproductive.…”

Communicating Climate Change: A Qualitative Study Exploring how Communicators and Educators are Approaching Climate-Change Discussions

“…A values-based approach to climate-change adaptation and vulnerability acknowledges that individuals and cultures have subjective, qualitative reactions to climate change (O'Brien & Wolf, 2010). Different values between groups also means that efforts to satisfy one group's needs through climate policies can create conflict amongst those groups (O'Brien & Wolf).…”

Understanding the need for adaptation in a natural resource dependent community in Northern Norway: issue salience, knowledge and values

“…Salience, understood as the Bimportance^individuals place on certain issues (Wlezien 2005), is strongly tied to values and norms which play a significant role in shaping how people consider risks (Thompson and Rayner 1998). How lay people define and experience climate change is related to their cultural and social values and norms and therefore have implications for whether they adapt or not (O'Brien and Wolf 2010). Few empirical studies have to date documented this connection.…”

“…Few empirical studies have to date documented this connection. This points to a weakness in current attempts to establish a theory for adaptation governance where an understanding of social valuation in developing such governing strategies is insufficient (O'Brien and Wolf 2010), and more broadly to the limited emphasis in governance literature on the agenda-setting properties of scientific knowledge.…”