moving climate adaptation up the agenda – A greener life, a greener world

By Anders Lorenzen

What are the main barriers holding up progress on climate adaptation?

This was one of the questions that prompted climate scientist, Dr Susannah Fisher, to write the book ‘Sink or Swim –  How the World Needs to Adapt to a Changing Climate, which was published earlier this year.

Shortly after the release of the book, Fisher sat down with me to discuss the objective of the book and what she learned.

Watch the full interview on YouTube

A Greener Life, A Greener World speaks with climate scientist Dr Susannah Fisher.

Finding the answers to big questions

“ I set out to write this book because I felt that adaptation is posing quite big political questions for the types of futures that we’re going to live under due to climate change”, she explained.

Having worked in climate science for over twenty years, Fisher undertook a journey to uncover why climate adaptation is lagging behind and why it does not enjoy the same kind of attention as climate mitigation. This journey too her right from policy, what actually happens on the ground, and what is national and local governments doing.

We have to face the adaptation question

She underlined that due to years of inaction, climate adaptation is inevitable:

“Science shows us that the impacts are going to ask us to do things differently. Unless we start talking about that and opening up the conversation, there’s a risk that we’re going to leave people behind”

Fisher explained that even though she is a UK-based scientist, her book is one that looks at the picture globally. “I felt that there was a set of challenges that cut across a variety of places in the world, and of course, adaptation is context specific. It’s local, but I think the point of the book is to point out that that means many of the solutions will be local”, she explained.

You can watch the full conversation in Green Voices Episode 16 above.

Anders Lorenzen is the founding Editor of A greener life, a greener world.

Don’t miss out on future Green Voices episodes. Subscribe to our YouTube channel.