The political economy of the social constraints to adaptation

Abstract

The constraints to effective, efficient, equitable and fair climate change adaptation have been defined and discussed in the literature for over two decades now. In this review, we discuss the socioeconomic and cultural factors that underpin what climate change adaptation can and cannot achieve. We focus on insights into the constraints to adaptation that come from scholars writing from a political economy lens, showing that the interests of often distant powerful actors and institutions are as important as behaviours and attitudes in constraining adaptation.