Managing vulnerability in the Green Climate Fund

Abstract

The conceptualization of climate change vulnerability and adaptation has changed over time, from the biophysical aspects of vulnerability, to a view that includes more social aspects. In recent years, there has been a growing discussion about the need not only to include social aspects in adaptation thinking, but also to discuss the more profound social change in order to adapt successfully, sometimes described as transformational adaptation. The literature on the subject is diverse but predominantly normative in character. As the notion of transformation becomes increasingly institutionalized in both climate science and climate policy, it becomes important to consider how the concept translates into governance. Hence, this study applies a critical perspective on transformational change in relation to vulnerability and adaptation in the Green Climate Fund (GCF). The analysis shows that the view on vulnerability in the GCF is mainly shaped by dominant logics such as science and the market that exclude the normative and political aspects of vulnerability. The GCF governing principle of transformational change is implicated in this by consolidating the market logic and the private sector in the GCF, which further limits the possibilities to articulate the normative and political aspects of vulnerability.