Neil Adger
Professor of Human Geography., University of Exeter
I am Professor of Human Geography. I teach, supervise graduate students, and conduct research in environmental geography, ecological and institutional economics, and global environmental change. I am currently undertaking a Leverhulme Major Research Fellowship on adaptation to climate change, and I lead research on the social dynamics of well-being, health, migration, and climate change, working with collaborators across the UK, Ireland, Ghana, South Asia, and Australia. My work has been recognised with the BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Prize in Climate Change. I was elected a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in 2019 and am a Beijer Fellow at the Beijer Institute for Ecological Economics at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. I have contributed to major international assessments, including as Lead Author and Convening Lead Author for the IPCC, as well as to the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, the Lancet Commission on Climate and Health, and the UK Foresight programme on Migration and Global Environmental Change.
EXPs by Neil Adger
While societies have adapted to climate change throughout history through agriculture, technology, and irrigation, it is foolish to assume that having better understanding of the science of climate change will automatically lead to an effective and smooth adaptation to the climate changes we are going to see. There is an imperative to prepare and act both individually and collectively.
Vulnerability to climate change is shaped by economic, social, and geographical factors, which influence how it is distributed across the world. Cities are the crucible of where climate change will occur and the crucible of where we need to adapt.
Climate loss occurs when people are dispossessed of things they care about for which there are no real substitutes. Unlike economic impacts that can be measured through insurance or lost livelihoods, climate loss involves irreversible impacts that people can never get back.