Date of Award
5-2020
Document Type
Campus Access Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science (MS)
Department
Environmental Sciences
First Advisor
Paul Kirshen
Second Advisor
David Timmons
Third Advisor
Ellen Douglas
Abstract
Climate change impacts are unequal throughout communities, often leaving those who contributed the least to greenhouse emissions the most exposed and vulnerable. Climate justice advocates support holistic approaches to adaptation planning which address current inequities in society along with climate risk. This holistic approach requires consideration and monitoring of plan impacts on well-being and equity issues. While social vulnerability and equity concerns have begun to be incorporated into adaptation planning strategies, many of these have been in a “checklist” format that are more about focusing on working with marginalized populations than quantifying the benefit of addressing equity issues. This thesis creates a set of indicators to assess and demonstrate the impact an adaptation plan has on well-being. To create these indicators, the literature on climate justice was reviewed to understand the core concepts and identify where climate adaptation planning can influence or incorporate climate justice components. Commonly used social vulnerability indices and equity indicator frameworks were analyzed to understand how social indicators are typically used. Based on the conclusions of those reviews, an indicator framework with a method to monetize impacts with an equity focus was created, drawing on concepts from political economy and non-market valuation techniques. This method is applied to two neighborhoods and the proposed adaptation plans from Climate Ready Boston: East Boston and South Boston.
Recommended Citation
Stroud, Hannah M., "Accounting for Equity in Climate Adaptation Planning: A Quantitative Assessment of Co-Benefits for Green Infrastructure" (2020). Graduate Masters Theses. 602.
https://scholarworks.umb.edu/masters_theses/602
Comments
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