Building Adaptive Capacity to Climate Change
Speaker:
Dr. Maria Carmen Lemos
Professor and Associate Dean for Research at the School of Natural Resources and Environment at the University of Michigan (UM)
This talk focuses on the relevance of adaptive capacity—defined as the resources available for people and communities to adapt to climate threats—to mitigate the effects of climate change on human populations and socioecological systems. Developing and building adaptive capacity requires a combination of interventions that addresses not only climate related risks, but also the structural deficits (lack of income, education, health, political power, technology, knowledge, etc.) that shape vulnerability. First, I will discuss the development of a theoretical model of adaptive capacity that can be applied to different systems in support of adaptation decision-making. Then, I will discuss how I have explored empirically different aspects of this model, especially focusing on the role of knowledge and governance in building adaptive capacity in Brazil and in the United States.