A Critical Feminist Evaluation of Climate Adaptation Law and Policy: The Case of Aotearoa New Zealand by Prof. Annick Masselot

Professor Annick Masselot will present a webinar on a critical feminist evaluation of climate adaptation law and policy in Aotearoa, New Zealand. It is based on her upcoming research paper: In the wake of the 2015 Paris Agreement, laws and policies designed to help human societies adapt to the effects of climate change have been introduced in countries around the world. Conventional legal approaches to climate adaptation are characterised as urgent and necessary actions to address an external threat of climate change. However, they are often based on technocratic and reductionist planning strategies that fail to account for the gendered experiences and knowledges of women, both in response to climate change and to the implementation of adaptation policies. In this article we undertake a critical feminist analysis of Aotearoa New Zealand’s First National Adaptation Plan 2022. Our analysis reveals, in line with global tendencies, that technocratic, masculinist and top-down approaches to climate adaptation have been prioritized over knowledges and approaches from diverse feminist, Indigenous and queer, and broader social science perspectives. We suggest three principles to advance a critical feminist reconceptualization of climate adaptation: (1) centring relationality and care; (2) putting equity and justice in context; and (3) acknowledging diverse agency and knowledge production. These principles present a possible new path towards more diverse climate adaptation based on alternative understandings of human-environment relationships and reciprocal ethics of care. Our findings reveal important lessons for the development of climate adaptation policies and plans in other countries.

Join on Zoom: https://berkeley.zoom.us/j/94895682374