Drilled How and Why Climate Adaptation Measures Get Blocked
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Nov 25, 2025 Laura Kuehl, an expert in climate adaptation, and Stacey Ann Robinson, an authority on environmental sciences in small islands, delve into the contentious politics of climate adaptation. They reveal how powerful actors like developers and governments resist necessary reforms, often sidelining vulnerable communities. The discussion highlights the role of donors in shaping adaptation priorities and the dangers of framing that obscures justice. The podcast also addresses the critical gaps in research around adaptation obstruction, making a case for more clarity in this understudied area.
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Donors Shape What Counts As Adaptation
- Donors shape which adaptation projects get funded and who decides adaptation priorities.
- Even technocratic funds like the Green Climate Fund embed criteria that favor certain adaptation logics and exclude others.
Decision Processes Can Displace The Vulnerable
- Decision-making obstruction occurs when elites design adaptation for their benefit, excluding marginalized groups.
- Examples include managed retreat displacing vulnerable Fiji communities and Mohawk relocation hurdles in Canada.
Agenda Setting Leaves Some Adaptation Out
- Agenda-setting obstruction prioritizes some needs over others and leaves adaptation off certain agendas.
- Urban elites, patronage politics, and donor priorities can push rural or vulnerable needs aside.