Many local communities are identified as vulnerable to climate change. They are both sensitive to exposure of change, and their capacity to adapt to the impacts of these changes are limited. As their economic resources became scarce in the face of forces of globalization, how do they adapt to the effects of climate change? Do they have the resources to adapt to a displacement of their targeted fish population? In their search for an answer three researchers found that power and politics are greater determents of small-scale fishers' capacity to adapt to climate change than was thought before.
The global change of climates affects local communities in their existence. A study published in the magazine ‘Polar Research’ demonstrates how national regulation on climate change impact local communities and their adaptive capacity. This concept ‘adaptive capacity’ can be defined as the resources for adaptation to changes - or what Adger (2006) calls the ‘social vulnerability’. The authors recognize the critics of Brooks (2003) and Thompson et al (2006) that the role of power and politics are important intermediary factors as these affect the distribution of these resources. The authors enumerate some of the national and international regulations that affect the sources of the local community as “among other things, legal rights to resources, levels of resource out-take and support or compensation mechanisms.” Therefore the writers argue that adaptations in response to climate changes typically require interaction with actors in a broad governance network. Especially within a system of multilevel governance, where decisions on resources are made at different political levels.
"The problems lie not in the limitation of fishing"
The study compared local communities of fishers with different social and legislative systems: The communities under study where those in Finnmark, in Northern-Norway and; Arkhangelsk in Russia coasting the White Sea. These communities have in common that they were introduced to fishing quotas. In total 32 people were interviewed representing different actors ranging from fishers and hunters, till public administrators, and pensioned community members. These were questions about the socio-economic situation, and climatic changes, how they perceived the impact of these changes, and they perceived the possibilities and sensitivity of the the local community to adapt to these changes.
The interviewees tell that their problems lie not in the limitation of fishing, but rather in the distribution of these rights. The Norwegian interviewees perceived the distribution to be in favor of larger vessel groups. While the Russian fishers notice that the fishers with (greater access to) large economic resources were favored. The researchers identify a conflict in policy. While national interests have the largest impact on policy, local and regional government and organizations support the small-scale fishing. But their access to higher levels of decision-making is limited.
A large part of the research focuses on how the local communities cope with the policy. For example by their cooperative behavior, and the appropriation of rights under the presumption of the community being indigenous. Based on their analysis, the researchers conclude that the small-scale fishers in the local communities own limited economic and technological resources to adapt to (potential) displacement of the targeted fish population to other latitudes. The legislative changes - they have to acquire fishing permits - increase their costs, eroding their scarce economic resources, The authors therefore exclaim that the small-scale fisher have not enough resources to adapt to the climate changes and that this is partially a result of limited access to higher levels of decision-making. Their findings thus imply that decision-making frameworks are determinants of the social vulnerability and adaptive capacity.
This is a summary of the article 'The role of governance in community adaptation to climate change',
by: E. Carina, H. Keskitalo & Antonina A. Kulyasova,
as published in Polar Research 28 (2009) 60-70
The interviewees tell that their problems lie not in the limitation of fishing, but rather in the distribution of these rights. The Norwegian interviewees perceived the distribution to be in favor of larger vessel groups. While the Russian fishers notice that the fishers with (greater access to) large economic resources were favored. The researchers identify a conflict in policy. While national interests have the largest impact on policy, local and regional government and organizations support the small-scale fishing. But their access to higher levels of decision-making is limited.
"Small-scale fishers own limited economic and technological resources to adapt to climate change"
This is a summary of the article 'The role of governance in community adaptation to climate change',
by: E. Carina, H. Keskitalo & Antonina A. Kulyasova,
as published in Polar Research 28 (2009) 60-70
