The contested nature of coastal climate change—commentary to Niven and Bardsley. Planned retreat as a management response to coastal risk: a case study from the Fleurieu Peninsula, South Australia

Abstract

Human responses to anthropogenic climate change are highly contested. Historical evidence from other threats to health and nature indicates that the social responses are politicized. Different groups argue for different responses, based on their own perceived risks and opportunities. They use political techniques, including manipulation of information (Beder 1997). The politicization of scientific information is well known in some fields, such as disease, defence and development (Flyvberg et al. 2012). This is the origin of political ecology. Historically, research on physical processes such as sediment erosion (Buckley 1987) or sea level change (Willis and Church 2012) was not politicized; but now it is (Anderson and Bows 2012; Phillips 2012).