CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION AND SOSIAL RESILIENCE: CAPACITIES, INEQUALITIES, GOVERNANCE CHALLENGES AND TRANSFORMATIVE PATHWAYS

Abstract

Climate change represents a multidimensional challenge that extends beyond environmental disruption to profoundly reshape social systems, economic structures, and governance arrangements. This study critically synthesises interdisciplinary literature to examine how climate impacts interact with societal vulnerabilities, adaptive capacities, and institutional frameworks to shape resilience outcomes across regions and sectors. Moving beyond technocratic and sector-specific approaches, the analysis emphasises that vulnerability is socially produced through unequal exposure, sensitivity, and most critically, adaptive capacity. Marginalised populations, including low-income households, women, Indigenous communities, smallholder farmers, older adults, and informal urban residents, experience disproportionate climate risks due to limited access to resources, political representation, and decision-making power. The study highlights how adaptation is inherently social, embedded within cultural norms, governance structures, and development trajectories rather than confined to discrete environmental interventions. While resilience-building strategies can reduce short-term risks, the findings demonstrate that incremental adaptation alone is insufficient under escalating climate pressures. Instead, transformative pathways, encompassing institutional reform, inclusive governance, integration of local and Indigenous knowledge, climate-smart infrastructure, and equitable finance mechanisms, are required to address structural drivers of vulnerability. Cross-sectoral impacts on ecosystems, health, infrastructure, and livelihoods reveal strong interdependencies that demand coordinated and justice-oriented responses. The study further identifies persistent barriers to effective adaptation, including governance fragmentation, knowledge gaps, financial constraints, and exclusionary planning processes. By situating climate adaptation within broader questions of equity, social capital, and political economy, this analysis underscores that resilience is not merely a technical outcome but a contested social process. Effective climate action therefore requires transformative, participatory, and inclusive strategies that align adaptation with sustainable development and social justice goals.