Abstract of 'Justice and vulnerability to climate change' lecture

10 May 2011

What metrics should be used to capture the distribution of the impacts of climate change on the well-being of different individuals and groups?

One obvious answer to that question might be the probability and degree of exposure to hazards such as flood and heat wave. However, there are good reasons to think that the metrics of probability and severity of exposure are on their own inadequate.

What matters is not only the likelihood and severity of exposure to the hazard but also the differential impacts of the event on wellbeing.

Vulnerability is a matter of how the external event converts into a welfare outcome. How exposure converts into wellbeing will depend on a variety of personal, environmental and social factors.

This lecture considered the different dimensions of vulnerability and their role in the measurement of climate disadvantage.

 

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