Manufacturing maladaptation: the neoliberal economic capture of adaptation and mitigation policies under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the justice implications for migration, women and indigenous communities

Abstract

Maladaptation is a concept that has been little engaged with or understood outside of the academic discipline of geography. However, maladaptation together with the normative concept of justice are central concepts through which I use to investigate the problem in this thesis. That is, are current adaptation and mitigation solutions to climate change, framed by the UNFCCC and development communities, leading to maladaptation? Maladaptation is defined as an action or policy that is ostensibly meant to reduce vulnerability to the impacts of climate change but is increasing this instead. I argue, maladaptation is present in existing solutions to climate change framed within a neoliberal environmental economic paradigm and in turn, they are potential drivers for a new displacement/migration category I am calling ‘maladapted migration’, malmigration for short. The gender and justice implications of maladaptation are explored. The purpose of this thesis then is to advance, in a preliminary way, the contours of malmigration theory – how adaptation and mitigation policies not screened through the lens of precaution or maladaptation can lead to displacement of peoples. I adopt a dual research methodological framework that uses desk-based critical theoretical/conceptual research complemented with qualitative research methods to address the key question under investigation – what is the basis of a just adaptation and mitigation policy that can be adopted once these solutions have been subsumed within a global carbon market framework? The results suggest that maladaptation is present in current adaptation and mitigation policies adopted by the UNFCCC. Thus, it is the solutions to climate change that represent as the main push-factor, and not climate change per se, for existing and potential future maladapted migration. Empirical research outcomes from the Indonesian case study suggest that customary communities in general, and women in particular, are disproportionately affected by the dominant market-driven logics that underscore current climate change solutions adopted by the UNFCCC Conference of Parties. The injustice of maladaptation is multi-faceted, with economic, social, cultural and ecological dimensions. To avoid further maladaptation, it is crucial that customary communities host to mitigation/adaptation policies developed under the UNFCCC be given full recognition for their customary lands. Secure tenure can only be achieved by the host state implementing appropriate legislation to give this effect.