Poverty, Livelihoods and Sustainable Development

Vocabulary flashcards covering key concepts from Chapter 8 of the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report regarding poverty, climate vulnerability, and sustainable development.

Climate Justice

A perspective that focuses on the historical, social, and institutional relations and inequalities that cause people to be vulnerable to climate hazards and shape responses.

Vulnerability

The predisposition to be adversely affected by climate hazards, determined by systemic factors like poverty, lack of access to infrastructure, and governance fragility.

Social Tipping Points

Critical thresholds where tiny perturbations qualitatively alter a system's state, leading to moments of rapid, destabilizing change like forced migration or chronic impoverishment.

Maladaptation

Adaptation actions that have unintended consequences, leading to increased \text{GHG} emissions or shifting vulnerability toward poor and marginalized populations.

Residual Risk

The remaining risk from climate change that can remain a challenge in people's lives even after adaptation measures have been implemented.

Non-Economic Loss and Damage (NELD)

Intangible and values-based losses resulting from climate change, such as loss of cultural heritage, sense of place, identity, and psychological well-being.

Climate traps

Situations where structurally vulnerable people, like refugees and IDPs, face legal and economic barriers that prevent them from migrating away from climate impacts.

Nature-Based Solutions (NBS)

Approaches that harness natural processes (e.g., urban green infrastructure or mangrove restoration) to support climate mitigation and provide livelihood options.

Climate Resilient Development (CRD)

Development that deliberately adopts mitigation and adaptation measures to secure a safe climate and meet basic needs while eliminating poverty.

Adaptive Capacity

The ability of systems, institutions, and individuals to adjust to potential damage, take advantage of opportunities, or respond to climate change consequences.

Climate-Compatible Development (CCD)

Development that minimizes climate harm while maximizing human development opportunities in a low-emission, resilient future; often aiming for 'triple wins'.

Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSPs)

Scenarios used to orient climate models around possible development pathways, including patterns of future exposure, risk, and vulnerability.

Common But Differentiated Responsibilities (CBDR-RC)

A principle within the UNFCCC acknowledging that countries have different responsibilities and capabilities for addressing climate change based on their development status.

Enabling Environment

The context consisting of governance structures, economic resources, and legal frameworks that support the implementation of effective climate adaptation.

Climate Gating

Privileged forms of adaptation where elites secure personal water or energy access (e.g., private boreholes), often excluding the broader vulnerable population.

State Fragility

Conditions characterized by weak governance, conflict, and lack of inclusive institutions that hamper a country's ability to reduce systemic vulnerability.

Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA)

An approach to agricultural management that aims to sustainably increase productivity, build resilience to climate change, and reduce/remove \text{GHG} emissions.

Physical Capital

Assets such as roads, infrastructure, housing, and technology that provide support for adaptation options and livelihood security.

Poverty as a Driver of Vulnerability

The systemic condition where a lack of financial resources, infrastructure, and governance directly increases the predisposition of populations to be adversely affected by climate hazards.

Poverty and Social Tipping Points

Critical thresholds where tiny perturbations in climate lead to rapid and destabilizing changes for the poor, such as forced migration or the descent into chronic, irreversible impoverishment.

Climate Traps and Economic Barriers

Situations where the global poor, including refugees and IDPs, face legal and economic constraints that prevent them from escaping high-risk climate zones, effectively trapping them in cycles of impact.

Eliminating Poverty through CRD

A core tenet of Climate Resilient Development (CRD) that aims to meet basic human needs and provide livelihood options while simultaneously adopting mitigation and adaptation measures.

Systemic Inequality and Climate Justice

The perspective that global attention must focus on poverty because historical and institutional relations shape the unequal distribution of climate risks and the capacity to respond.

Maladaptation and Marginalized Populations

Adaptation strategies that inadvertently increase vulnerability for the poor by shifting risks or increasing \text{GHG} emissions, often reinforcing existing poverty cycles.

Distributive Justice

A dimension of climate justice that advocates for the equitable distribution of resources, funding, and the costs of climate change impacts among different social groups.

Procedural Justice

The focus on ensuring that the processes for making decisions about climate adaptation and mitigation are inclusive, transparent, and fair, involving those most affected by the outcomes.

Recognition Justice

A form of justice that requires acknowledging and respecting the specific social backdrops, cultural identities, and local knowledge of diverse groups, particularly the global poor.

Asset Depletion

A survival strategy used by households in deep poverty where they sell off productive assets—such as livestock, land, or tools—to survive a climate shock, which undermines their long-term resilience.

Gendered Vulnerability

The disproportionate impact of climate change on women and girls due to inequitable access to resources, restricted mobility, and social roles that increase their reliance on natural resources.

Informal Settlements

Densely populated urban areas characterized by poor-quality housing and a lack of basic services, where inhabitants are frequently exposed to high climate risks with minimal institutional support.

Human Capital

The skills, knowledge, and health of individuals that enhance their ability to adapt to climate hazards and maintain livelihoods.

Social Capital

Social networks, community ties, and institutions that provide mutual support and resource sharing during climate-related shocks.

Economic Loss and Damage

Quantifiable financial losses from climate impacts, such as damage to infrastructure, loss of income, and destruction of agricultural crops.

Technological Justice

Ensuring that low-income countries and populations have access to and the capacity to use technologies for mitigation and adaptation.

Financial Barriers to Adaptation

Structural inequalities where high-risk populations lack access to credit, insurance, or low-interest loans needed to build climate resilience.

Intergenerational Equity

The principle that current climate and poverty eradication policies must not compromise the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.