Justice and responsibility in climate change adaptation research

Area of Science:

• Global Health
• Climate Change Adaptation Research
• Environmental Justice

Background:

• Ethical challenges arise from conflicting intuitions on justice and responsibility in climate change adaptation and global health research.
• High-income countries are seen as responsible due to historical emissions and resources, while low- and middle-income countries are responsible due to agency and disproportionate climate/health burdens.
• These conflicting views create tension between obligation/assistance and agency/authority.

Purpose of the Study:

• To resolve the ethical tension in climate change adaptation and global health research responsibilities.
• To propose a framework distinguishing adaptation-enabling and adaptation-enacting responsibilities.
• To align the division of labor with principles of justice and subsidiarity.

Main Methods:

• Distinguishing between adaptation-enabling and adaptation-enacting responsibilities.
• Applying the principle of subsidiarity (non-abandonment, non-absorption, cooperation, coordination).
• Proposing a framework for assigning responsibilities to different income-level countries and multiple agents.

Main Results:

• High-income countries are assigned adaptation-enabling responsibilities (financing, capacity-building).
• Low- and middle-income countries are assigned adaptation-enacting responsibilities (priority-setting, plan implementation).
• Shared adaptation responsibilities are jointly assigned to all levels.

Conclusions:

• A clear division of labor, with high-income countries enabling and low- and middle-income countries enacting, is crucial.
• Genuine collaboration, avoiding domination and abandonment, is essential for just and effective climate change adaptation.
• The proposed framework supports equitable and effective global health and climate adaptation efforts.