{
  "abstract": "Adaptation to climate change is currently characterised by ever-increasing costs to maintain the status quo with respect to climate hazards. This gap is worsened by the fiscal austerity that characterises the current political and economic situation in many countries. These cuts reduce societal resilience through neglected public infrastructure, services and civic spaces generating vulnerability to shocks and an everyday lack of opportunity. Here we argue that without addressing economic austerity, the viability of current approaches to adaptation are severely compromised. Thus, engaging with, and shifting, societal values, norms and objectives in decision-making will be central to a more cost-effective and orderly form of adaptation. This requires amplifying the political voice of communities who often lack the power to effect change. In this framing, adaptation goes beyond (but still includes) responding to hazard, placing greater emphasis on investment in people and advancing their wellbeing. Adaptation becomes a political force driving social change and challenging the logic of economic austerity.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Department of Geography, King’s College London, London, United Kingdom",
    "School of Engineering, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom",
    "Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, United Kingdom",
    "Stockholm Environment Institute, Oxford, United Kingdom",
    "Northern Ireland Environment Link, Belfast, United Kingdom",
    "Environmental Change Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom",
    "Centre for Global Lives, College of Business, Arts and Social Sciences, Brunel University of London, London, United Kingdom",
    "School of Geographical and Earth Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, United Kingdom",
    "Verture, Edinburgh, United Kingdom"
  ],
  "article_type": "Essay",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 13,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Helen Adams"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Giovanna Gini"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Richard Dawson"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        3
      ],
      "name": "Hayley Fowler"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        4
      ],
      "name": "Katie Jenkins"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        5
      ],
      "name": "Stephen Jones"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        6
      ],
      "name": "Shruthi Krishnamoorthy"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        7
      ],
      "name": "Raghav Pant"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        8
      ],
      "name": "Shona Paterson"
    },
    {
      "name": "Jaime Toney"
    },
    {
      "name": "Emma Yule"
    },
    {
      "name": "Rosie Witton"
    },
    {
      "name": "Ruth Wolstenholme"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/7prgjd86zj5rk.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.1371/journal.pclm.0001052",
  "fulltext_url": "https://journals.plos.org/climate/article?id=10.1371/journal.pclm.0001052",
  "id": "7prgjd86zj5rk",
  "issns": [
    "2767-3200"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://journals.plos.org/climate/article?id=10.1371/journal.pclm.0001052",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY 4.0",
  "licence_source": "journal",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "openalex",
      "2306|Sustainability and Climate Change Governance"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Earth sciences/Atmospheric science/Climatology/Climate change"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Earth sciences/Atmospheric science/Climatology/Climate change/Anthropogenic climate change"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Engineering and technology/Civil engineering/Urban infrastructure"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Engineering and technology/Energy and power/Fuels/Fossil fuels"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Medicine and health sciences/Epidemiology/Medical risk factors"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Medicine and health sciences/Mental health and psychiatry"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Physical sciences/Materials science/Materials/Fuels/Fossil fuels"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Social sciences/Economics/Finance"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Social sciences/Political science/Public policy"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7213916633",
  "pdf_url": "https://journals.plos.org/climate/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pclm.0001052&type=printable",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-09-21",
  "publisher": "Public Library of Science",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/7prgjd86zj5rk.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:17:43Z",
      "native_id": "10.1371/journal.pclm.0001052",
      "source": "plos",
      "url": "https://journals.plos.org/climate/article?id=10.1371/journal.pclm.0001052"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "earth",
      "origin": "plos:climate change",
      "subfield": "climate"
    },
    {
      "field": "medicine",
      "origin": "plos:epidemiology",
      "subfield": "epidemiology-public-health"
    },
    {
      "field": "medicine",
      "origin": "plos:mental health and psychiatry",
      "subfield": "psychiatry"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Adaptation as a catalyst for social change",
  "title_text": "Adaptation as a catalyst for social change",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:17:43Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/7prgjd86zj5rk",
  "venue": "PLOS Climate",
  "versions": []
}