Intersectionality shapes the access to various adaptive resources in climate-vulnerable contexts

Abstract

Abstract Intersectional approaches are becoming essential to understanding the differential impacts of climate change and the heterogeneity of adaptive capacities. Varying factors of social and economic privileges and inequalities synergistically shape the local power structure, ultimately determining disproportionality and unequal access to adaptive resources. Using empirical data from coastal Bangladesh, which is part of the Ganges Delta, and one of the world’s -most climate-vulnerable regions, this study shows how religion, gender, and ethnicity intersect with patterns in (i) farm and non-farm incomes, (ii) land conflicts, (iii) the size of farms, and (iv) access to critical sources of weather information. The study highlights that multilayered identity, which is shaped by various structural determinants, including local power structure, can determine gendered dimensions of access to various adaptation resources. It also shows that if policymakers and development partners partially understand or do not understand the complex landscape of local vulnerability or unequal power structures including the adaptive capacity of the vulnerable populations, they would not be able to provide critical support in times of crisis. The concept of intersectionality is therefore critical in addressing adaptation and risk management challenges for regions like the Ganges Delta and other parts of the world, where people are struggling with similar social and environmental challenges.