CALQ analysis – Vincent Belgraver (6072372) – working group 1 – 14/11/2011
Adaptation to climate change and social justice: challenges for flood and disaster
management in Thailand
Lebel, L., Foran, T., Garden, P., Manuta, J.B. (working paper) Adaptation to climate change and
social justice: challenges for flood and disaster management in Thailand: 1-11.
Core quotation
“(…) there are serious limitations in how floods and changes to flood regimes are being handled
today and (…) these could easily be made worse by both inaction and misguided adaptation
policies” (Lebel et al¸ working paper : 2).
Arguments
In this paper, the authors argue that the ways in which floods and natural disasters are managed in
Thailand, are not always the best options. Misguided adaptation policies may be ineffective or
may even lead to situations that are worse than the situation that was being addressed. In order to
clarify the faced challenges in flood and disaster management, the authors use the ‘conventional
disaster cycle’ and mention some challenges for every part of it. For instance, when it comes to
reducing risks of exposure, the authors argue that there is too much focus on technical activities,
such as infrastructural projects. Instead, they would prefer a greater role of the most vulnerable
groups in protecting themselves to the risks they are facing. Secondly, governments should be
aware of the fact that their regulations and practices can either enhance or erode the capacity of
coping with floods. For instance, decentralization may be beneficial in some cases, but can be
devastating if there are not enough financial resources at the lower level. On the other hand,
centralized warning systems may be ineffective as they do not always match with the real
necessities. Thirdly, many things go wrong when it comes to securing the affected people in case
of an emergency. The authors argue that the most highly affected groups are often not secured by
disaster management programs and policies, because social differences are often ignored in the
impacts of floods. In the case of Thailand, protecting the most vulnerable and affected groups has
never been a priority. According to the authors, this is a serious limitation of the policies and can
be seen as an important social (in)justice issue. Moreover, they argue that there are serious
limitations to building and maintaining resilience. Again, they claim that there is too much
emphasis on physical interventions. These interventions sometimes cause even larger risks and
fail to recognize, for example, the capability of ecosystems to reducing vulnerabilities to floods.
After all, the authors argue that there should be a stronger link between knowledge and practice.
One should link local, practice and scientific knowledge in order to come up with efficient
adaptation policies. According to the authors, this is the only way in which exacerbating injustice,
as a result of misguided adaptation policies, can be prevented.
Linkage
Similarly to this paper, McGranahan et al. (2007) refer to the risks of climate change and human
settlements in low elevation coastal zones. Both papers elaborate on the vulnerability of low
elevation zones and the authors of both papers agree that, as a result, many people are at risk.
Moreover, they agree on the fact that especially the poor are at risk. Dossou (2007) also agrees on
this. This author also mentions some adaptive measures in order to cope with floods, so that
people become less vulnerable. Therefore, this article can also be linked to Lebel’s paper.
Questions:
1. The authors argue that “putting the most vulnerable groups first” should be an important
guiding principle in future disaster governance. How should “the most vulnerable group”
be defined? Are these necessarily the poorest groups?
2. From a social justice perspective, it seems logical that the most vulnerable groups will
have priority when it comes to securing people in emergency situations. However, should
the social justice perspective always be the dominant one? Wouldn’t an economic
approach be more relevant in developing countries? Under which circumstances would
such an approach be justifiable?
References:
Dossou, K.M.R., Gléhouenou-Dossou, B. (2007) The vulnerability to climate change of Cotonou
(Benin): the rise in sea level, Environment and Urbanization 19: 65-79.
Lebel, L., Foran, T., Garden, P., Manuta, J.B. (working paper) Adaptation to climate change and
social justice: challenges for flood and disaster management in Thailand: 1-11.
McGranahan, G. Balk, D., Anderson, B. (2007) The rising tide: assessing the risks of climate
change and human settlements in low elevation coastal zones, Environment and Urbanization 19:
17- 37.