Download OBrien- Climate Change in Norway

Climate Change and Changing
Values in Norway:
Are there limits to adaptation?
Karen O’Brien
Department of Sociology and Human Geography
University of Oslo, Norway
Values
• Something intrinsically desirable
• Context specific vs. universal
• Result from psychological needs and social
interactions
• Related to needs, worldviews, and structures
and stages of consciousness
• Differential
• Dynamic
Traditional structures
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Absolutistic values
Mythic and ethnocentric worldview
Conformist self-identity
Rule-dominated cognition
Key concerns related to climate change: loss of
cultural identity or group identity
Prioritized adaptations might recognize local
knowledge, support traditional sectors and
livelihoods, preserve cultural icons.
Modern structures
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Multiplistic values
Rational, worldcentric worldview
Conscientious self-identity
Rational cognition
Key concerns related to climate change:
outcomes that affect material well-being
Prioritized adaptations might emphasize
technology and draw on results of costbenefit analyses and future scenarios
Post-modern structures
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Relativistic values
Pluralistic, worldcentric worldview
Individualistic self-identity
Meta-systemic cognition
Key concerns related to climate change:
ecosystem integrity, moral and ethical
perspectives, social justice and equity.
Prioritized adaptations might focus on the poor
and marginalized, future generations, and the
role of ecosystem services.
Values in Norway
• Traditional: rural areas, nature, family
• Modern: individualism, economic
development, material wealth, technology,
scientific progress
• Post-modern: Rejection of social hierarchies,
promotion of equity across gender and class,
and between rural and urban areas.
Snow cover changes in Norway
• Winter temperature increases of 2.5 – 4oC by
2100;
• More winter precipitation in eastern Norway;
• 40% decrease in number of days with
suitable skiing conditions by 2050 (compared
to 1981-1999 period)
Traditional values
• Snow cover is important
to local and national
identity
• Prioritized adaptations
might preserve
heritage, tradition, and
identity (preservation of
cultural landscapes and
a sense of place)
• Challenge: to transform
livelihoods and maintain
a sense of community
Modern values
• Snow cover as a
medium for winter
sports (an important
economic sector)
• Prioritized adaptations
might focus on snowmaking technologies,
indoor snow domes,
artificially cooled ski
tracks
• Challenge: reconstruct
or reinvent identity
(identify new or niche
markets)
Post-modern values
• Snow cover as a
component of
ecosystem integrity;
distant impacts of
climate change also a
concern
• Prioritized adaptations
might focus on adaptive
management, building
resilience, promoting
sustainability.
• Challenge: promote
mitigation as a form of
adaptation
• Can climate change adaptations take into
account a spectrum of values that correspond
to diverse human human needs and multiple
persectives and worldviews?
• Can climate change adaptations take into
account a spectrum of values that correspond
to diverse human human needs and multiple
persectives and worldviews?
• Whose values count?