Climate Change Initiative

Publications

Dr. Adelle Thomas

Thomas, Adelle and Lisa Benjamin. 2017. Management of loss and damage in small island developing states: implications for a 1.5C or warmer world. Regional Environmental Change. DOI: 10.1007/s10113-017-1184-7

Small island developing states (SIDS) have been identified as some of the most vulnerable countries to the impacts of climate change due to inherent environmental, economic, and demographic characteristics. As SIDS experience impacts of climate change and reach their limits to adaptation, the identification and management of loss and damage is essential. Monitoring and evaluating loss and damage, and implementing effective responses to address these impacts, becomes even more important in a 1.5 °C or warmer world, as impacts from climate change increase. As global agreements on climate change are implemented and mechanisms to manage impacts continue to be negotiated and established, the existing ability of SIDS to monitor and respond to loss and damage must be evaluated to determine gaps that must be addressed in a 1.5 °C or warmer world. This research utilizes interviews with UNFCCC climate change negotiators for SIDS and analysis of Intended Nationally Determined Contributions, to assess the state of loss and damage management in SIDS. The research provides an assessment of loss and damage already being experienced in SIDS, the status of existing mechanisms to actively monitor and evaluate loss and damage, and the existence of policies and mechanisms in SIDS to address loss and damage. Three areas of concern appear to be common for SIDS: lack of data relating to loss and damage, gaps in financial assessments of loss and damage, and a lack of policies or mechanisms targeted at loss and damage. These issues appear to be most acute in relation to slow onset impacts. Cumulatively, these challenges may present difficulties in detection and attribution and in obtaining a holistic understanding of the extent and costs of loss and damage for SIDS.

Thomas, Adelle and Lisa Benjamin. 2017. Perceptions of Climate Change Risk in The Bahamas. Journal of Environmental Studies and Science. doi:10.1007/s13412-017-0429-6

The Bahamas is considered to be one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change due to its geographic, economic, and population characteristics. While prior research on specific Bahamian resident groups, such as tourism and healthcare workers, has shown limited awareness of climate change, minimal knowledge of specific impacts of environmental change, and low prioritization of environmental issues, in general, there is a lack of studies on the perception of the broader Bahamian public about climate change issues. In this study, over 500 Bahamian residents were surveyed to determine their familiarity with the issue of climate change, specific impacts on The Bahamas, and the perceived levels of risk of these impacts. The majority of respondents were females between the ages of 18 and 30 with some level of college education. The study provides analysis of how climate change is perceived by this subset of the population and potential links with how these perceptions can guide policymaking and risk communication strategies. The study also has implications for other small island developing states, as it contributes to an understanding of the needs for localized data and public education in vulnerable states such as these.

Benjamin, Lisa and Adelle Thomas. 2016. 1.5C to Stay Alive? AOSIS and the long term temperature goal in the Paris Agreement. IUCNAEL eJournal, 7.

The global temperature goals contained in Article 2 of the Paris Agreement1 have been widely touted as a major marker of the success of the agreement. In particular, the aspirational goal of pursuing efforts to limit the global temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels was a surprise to many observers of the negotiations. However, inclusion of the 1.5°C long term temperature goal had been a long-fought struggle, led by the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), and resulted mainly from the Structured Expert Dialogue (SED) on the 2013-2015 review. This insight piece provides an overview of the results of the 2013-2015 review in light of the 1.5°C temperature goal, and its importance for small island states. The piece also charts the convoluted course of the outcome of the 2013-2015 review in the Paris negotiations, the consequential recognition of the 1.5°C goal in the agreement, and provides some initial thoughts of the adequacy of this provision in the Paris Agreement.

Klein, Richard JT, et al. “Adaptation opportunities, constraints, and limits.” (2015).

Risk-based approaches to decision making provide a useful foundation for assessing the potential opportunities, constraints, and limits associated with adaptation of human and natural systems. Risk management frames the consequences of climate change and potential adaptation responses in the context of actors’ values, objectives, and planning horizons as they make decisions under uncertainty. Adaptation planning and implementation are therefore contingent on actors’ perceptions of risk. Some risks may be routine and/or the consequences so minor that they are accepted. Other risks may be judged intolerable because they pose fundamental threats to actors’ objectives or the sustainability of natural systems. A key objective of adaptation is to avoid such intolerable risks. Yet, the capacity of societal actors and natural systems to adapt is finite, and thus there are limits to adaptation.

Thomas, Adelle, and Robin Leichenko. “Adaptation through insurance: lessons from the NFIP.” International Journal of Climate Change Strategies and Management 3.3 (2011): 250-263.

Insurance is widely regarded as a key adaptation option for climate change. Yet, the experience of the insurance sector in dealing with climatic hazards, particularly flooding, has been highly varied. Drawing from the experience of the US National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), the purpose of this paper is to identify opportunities and challenges associated with using insurance as an adaptation strategy for climate change.

Leichenko, Robin M., and Adelle Thomas. “Coastal cities and regions in a changing climate: Economic impacts, risks and vulnerabilities.” Geography Compass 6.6 (2012): 327-339.

This review examines recent literature on economic impacts, vulnerabilities and adaptation to climate change in coastal cities and regions of the developed world. Major areas of focus within this body of literature include study of the economic impacts of extreme events, examination of the economic consequences of sea level rise, and investigation of the multiple factors that influence economic vulnerability and resilience. Despite blossoming interest in the local and regional economic dimensions of climate change, the majority of work on this topic is focused on coastal cities and regions in the Global North. This work is also largely conducted outside the field of economic geography in disciplines that include natural hazards, economics, planning, and human dimensions of global environmental change, among others. While these studies have made important contributions to knowledge about how climate change may affect developed coastal cities and regions, there is substantial room for new engagement by economic geographers. In addition to a clear need for more work on the Global South, areas where economic geographers seem especially well-positioned to contribute include comprehensive assessments of coastal economic impacts which incorporate both market and non-market measures, investigation of the effects of climate change on patterns of growth and spatial inequality across coastal and related inland areas, and development of new theoretical understandings of how changing environmental baselines may influence regional economic growth and decline.

Leichenko, Robin, Adelle Thomas, and Mark Barnes. Vulnerability and adaptation to climate change. Routledge: New York and London, 2010.

As the time-scales of natural change accelerate and converge with those of society, Routledge Handbook of Climate Change and Society takes the reader into largely uncharted territory in its exploration of anthropogenic climate change. Current material is used to highlight the global impact of this issue, and the necessity for multidisciplinary and global social science research and teaching to address the problem.

Thomas, Adelle Dawn. An integrated view: multiple stressors and small tourism enterprises in the Bahamas. Diss. Rutgers University-Graduate School-New Brunswick, 2012.

Vulnerability to multiple stressors has been a research area of increased focus as geographers and other social scientists investigate how various processes of change affect regions, industries and social groups. However, much research within the human dimensions of environmental change literature continues to focus on vulnerability to single stressors such as climate change or natural hazards. Using the double exposure framework (Leichenko and O’Brien, 2008) to explore the vulnerability of small tourism enterprises to various processes of globalization and global environmental change, this dissertation contributes to a deeper understanding of how vulnerability is affected by interactions between multiple stressors. Research was based in New Providence and Paradise Island, Bahamas, a major tourism destination in the Caribbean. A qualitative approach conducted in two phases utilized over 70 semi-structured interviews with owners and managers of small tourism enterprises and other tourism industry stakeholders. Results of the dissertation show that climate change, extreme natural events, land use change, mass tourism, sustainable tourism and financial crises interact with each other in complex ways to affect the vulnerability of small businesses to change while shaping their response options. These interactions have significant implications for the ability of small tourism enterprises to compete with large businesses and negatively affect their current and future market share of the international tourism industry. This dissertation reveals that interactions between multiple stressors increase the vulnerability of small tourism enterprises to change, constrain their ability to respond to change and expose the need for greater public-private partnerships to improve the viability of these businesses. This exploration of interactions between stressors makes a strong case for the need to consider how multiple processes of change affect entities of any kind.

 

Lisa Benjamin

Lisa Benjamin. 2017. The duty of due consideration in the Anthropocene: Climate risk and English directorial duties. Carbon & Climate Law Review. 11(2): 90-99.

Companies are responsible for a large amount of greenhouse gas emissions, and these externalities are, for the most part, not being internalised by these entities. However, the risks and opportunities for companies due to climate change in the Anthropocene have begun to materialise more clearly, and the magnitude, particularly of risks, to some companies have focused the attention of investors, and as a result, directors, on climate change. Company law, therefore, may provide a mechanism through the duty of due consideration in Section 172 of the UK Companies Act 2006, combined with the obligation to disclose material risks, for directors to pay more significant attention to climate change issues as they impact their companies.

Thomas, Adelle and Lisa Benjamin. 2017. Management of loss and damage in small island developing states: implications for a 1.5C or warmer world. Regional Environmental Change. DOI: 10.1007/s10113-017-1184-7

Small island developing states (SIDS) have been identified as some of the most vulnerable countries to the impacts of climate change due to inherent environmental, economic, and demographic characteristics. As SIDS experience impacts of climate change and reach their limits to adaptation, the identification and management of loss and damage is essential. Monitoring and evaluating loss and damage, and implementing effective responses to address these impacts, becomes even more important in a 1.5 °C or warmer world, as impacts from climate change increase. As global agreements on climate change are implemented and mechanisms to manage impacts continue to be negotiated and established, the existing ability of SIDS to monitor and respond to loss and damage must be evaluated to determine gaps that must be addressed in a 1.5 °C or warmer world. This research utilizes interviews with UNFCCC climate change negotiators for SIDS and analysis of Intended Nationally Determined Contributions, to assess the state of loss and damage management in SIDS. The research provides an assessment of loss and damage already being experienced in SIDS, the status of existing mechanisms to actively monitor and evaluate loss and damage, and the existence of policies and mechanisms in SIDS to address loss and damage. Three areas of concern appear to be common for SIDS: lack of data relating to loss and damage, gaps in financial assessments of loss and damage, and a lack of policies or mechanisms targeted at loss and damage. These issues appear to be most acute in relation to slow onset impacts. Cumulatively, these challenges may present difficulties in detection and attribution and in obtaining a holistic understanding of the extent and costs of loss and damage for SIDS.

Thomas, Adelle and Lisa Benjamin. 2017. Perceptions of Climate Change Risk in The Bahamas. Journal of Environmental Studies and Science. doi:10.1007/s13412-017-0429-6

The Bahamas is considered to be one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change due to its geographic, economic, and population characteristics. While prior research on specific Bahamian resident groups, such as tourism and healthcare workers, has shown limited awareness of climate change, minimal knowledge of specific impacts of environmental change, and low prioritization of environmental issues, in general, there is a lack of studies on the perception of the broader Bahamian public about climate change issues. In this study, over 500 Bahamian residents were surveyed to determine their familiarity with the issue of climate change, specific impacts on The Bahamas, and the perceived levels of risk of these impacts. The majority of respondents were females between the ages of 18 and 30 with some level of college education. The study provides analysis of how climate change is perceived by this subset of the population and potential links with how these perceptions can guide policymaking and risk communication strategies. The study also has implications for other small island developing states, as it contributes to an understanding of the needs for localized data and public education in vulnerable states such as these.

Benjamin, L. (2016) ‘The Responsibilities of Carbon Major Companies: Are They (and Is the Law) Doing Enough?’, Transnational Environmental Law, 5(2), pp. 353–378. doi: 10.1017/S2047102516000194.

Transnational carbon major companies are responsible for over 30% of global industrial greenhouse gas emissions and exert tremendous influence over future global climate trajectories. Yet, they are not governed through top-down, stringent emissions limits, but are instead regulated largely by disclosure-only domestic requirements and market-based or voluntary corporate social responsibility mechanisms. Through an examination of the requirements of domestic laws such as the United Kingdom (UK) Climate Change Act 2008 and the UK Energy Act 2013, as well as the environmental and sustainability reports produced under the UK Companies Act 2006 (Strategic Report and Directors’ Report) Regulations 2013, this article analyzes the regulatory requirements placed on carbon majors, and the climate change pledges and emissions of five UK-based carbon majors: BP, Royal Dutch Shell, BG Group, National Grid, and Centrica. The article concludes that the efforts to curb emissions in these carbon major entities are being subverted by company law, company theory and commercial norms such as shareholder wealth maximization.

Benjamin, Lisa and Adelle Thomas. 2016. 1.5C to Stay Alive? AOSIS and the long term temperature goal in the Paris Agreement. IUCNAEL eJournal, 7.

The global temperature goals contained in Article 2 of the Paris Agreement1 have been widely touted as a major marker of the success of the agreement. In particular, the aspirational goal of pursuing efforts to limit the global temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels was a surprise to many observers of the negotiations. However, inclusion of the 1.5°C long term temperature goal had been a long-fought struggle, led by the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), and resulted mainly from the Structured Expert Dialogue (SED) on the 2013-2015 review. This insight piece provides an overview of the results of the 2013-2015 review in light of the 1.5°C temperature goal, and its importance for small island states. The piece also charts the convoluted course of the outcome of the 2013-2015 review in the Paris negotiations, the consequential recognition of the 1.5°C goal in the agreement, and provides some initial thoughts of the adequacy of this provision in the Paris Agreement.

Benjamin, Lisa. “Climate Change and Caribbean Small Island States: The State of Play.” The International Journal of Bahamian Studies 16 (2010): 78-91.

Studies have indicated that climate change is likely to have dramatic negative effects for Caribbean small island developing states. This article considers the main economic effects that climate change is anticipated to have in these vulnerable states, charts the progress of international negotiations at the 2009 Copenhagen conference, and provides a brief analysis of the impact of the Copenhagen Accord on Caribbean Small Island Developing States (SIDS).

Although climate change has traditionally been seen solely as an environmental issue, its economic effects on vulnerable developing nations, such as Caribbean SIDS, forces a re-definition of climate change to that of a more complex union of environmental and developmental issues for these states. By highlighting some of the anticipated economic effects of climate change for Caribbean SIDS, the author aims to provide a broader context for the issue of climate change for Caribbean SIDS.

Benjamin, Lisa. “The Role of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) in UNFCCC Negotiations.”  International Environmental Law-making and Diplomacy Review 2010. Eds. Ed Couzens and Tuula Honkonen. Joensuu, Finland: University of Eastern Finland. 2011. 117-132.

Small island developing states (SIDS) are particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate
change. In some instances, their very survival is threatened. This vulnerability motivated
the formation of a coalition of SIDS, which, although diverse in economic, political,
and geographic characteristics, decided to ‘pool their sovereignty’ to form the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) to increase their individual influence and effectiveness in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) negotiations. Although its members are small in size and economic and political clout, AOSIS has proven an effective negotiating bloc in UNFCCC negotiations by successfully employing a number of different negotiating strategies.

Benjamin, Lisa. “Small Island Developing States in International Negotiations Involving Ocean Governance: UNCLOS, UNFCCC and the Doha Development of the WTO.”  International Environmental Law-making and Diplomacy Review 2012. Eds. Ed Couzens,  Tuula Honkonen and Melissa Lewis. Joensuu, Finland: University of Eastern Finland. 2013. 17-44.

Small Island Developing States (SIDS) have been, and continue to be, involved in a number of multilateral negotiations. Despite their small size and significant capacity constraints, SIDS have made gains in these negotiations by using a number of varied strategies, particularly in the law of the sea negotiations. However, in the areas of climate change and trade in particular, it is arguable that SIDS have enjoyed a more moderate level of success. SIDS have tried to combat their structural disadvantages through the use of negotiating blocs and regional institutions which have generally proved advantageous for these countries.