Shrimp and coastal adaptation: on the politics of climate justice

Abstract

Strategies for climate change adaptation are contingent on normative analyses of ideal development outcomes and possible futures. Competing visions for the future thus result in adaptation programmes that benefit some while disadvantaging others. In coastal Bangladesh, shrimp aquaculture provides an example of one such adaptation strategy with contested unequal outcomes. Focusing on the impacts of adaptation on the poorest and most vulnerable reduces the risk of negative impacts on the most structural disadvantaged. Attention to power imbalances, as opposed to technical solutions, can help ensure more equitable outcomes of adaptation measures.