6th International Disaster and Risk Conference IDRC 2016 Integrative Risk Management - Towards Resilient Cities. 28 August - 01 September 2016 in Davos, Switzerland

1. Resilience and
Social-Ecological Justice
Andreas Rechkemmer

2. The Anthropocene

3. Social-Ecological Systems

4. There are neither natural or pristine systems without
people nor social systems without nature.
Social and ecological systems are not just linked but truly
interconnected and co-evolving across spatial and
temporal scales.
We use the concept social-ecological since it emphasizes
the humans-in-the-environment perspective.
Stockholm Resilience Center

5. A social-ecological system consists of 'a bio-geo-
physical' sub-system and a social sub-system, i.e. its
associated social actors, their social environments and
institutions.
A social-ecological system can be defined as:
A coherent system of biophysical and social factors that
regularly interact;
A system that is defined at several spatial, temporal, and
organizational scales;
A flow of critical resources (natural, socioeconomic, and
cultural).
Social-ecological systems are complex and adaptive.

7. Social-Ecological Systems
from Chapin et al. 2006

8. The Key Concept: Resilience
But WHAT Resilience?

9. Resilience as Bouncing Back
Resilience as Adaptation
Resilience as Transformation

10. “Transformation involves fundamental
change, which in the context of
sustainability, requires radical, systemic
shifts in values and beliefs, patterns of
social behavior, and multilevel governance
and management regimes (Olsson et al.
2014).” Resilience Alliance

11. Figure SPM.10
Temperature increase and cumulative carbon emissions
All Figures © IPCC 2013

12. Figure SPM.9
Global mean sea level rise
All Figures © IPCC 2013

13. Needed:
A New Normative Foundation for Resilient,
Sustainable Development

14. "Sustainable development is development that
meets the needs of the present without
compromising the ability of future generations to
meet their own needs.”

15. Rio Declaration
Principle 1
Human beings are at the centre of concerns for sustainable
development. They are entitled to a healthy and productive life in
harmony with nature.
Principle 3
The right to development must be fulfilled so as to equitably meet
developmental and environmental needs of present and future
generations.
Principle 5
All States and all people shall cooperate in the essential task of
eradicating poverty as an indispensable requirement for sustainable
development, in order to decrease the disparities in standards of living
and better meet the needs of the majority of the people of the world.

16. Social-Ecological Justice

17. The Earth does not belong to
man; man belongs to Earth.
Humankind has not woven the
web of life. We are but one
thread within it. Whatever we
do to the web, we do to
ourselves.
All things are bound together.
All things connect.
Attributed to Chief Seattle, 1854

18. Sustainable Development will be
achieved more easily if we place the idea
and principle of Social-Ecological Justice
at its very foundation, conceptually as
well as in every action.
In the sense of Kant, Social-Ecological
Justice should precisely not be motivated
by utilitarian or contractarian
approaches, but rather be perceived as
an a priori, transcendental moral
principle informing law, ethics, policy
and action alike.
In the Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals (1785),
Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) argues that morality is based
neither on the principle of utility, nor on a law of nature, but on
human reason.

19. vs. Utilitarianism (Status quo in International Policy)
vs. Theories of Social Contract (John Rawls et al.)
But based on an Idea of Justice that goes ‘beyond compassion
and humanity’ (Nussbaum 2004, 2006) and builds on rights-
based views, and capabilities.
As with human capabilities, the emphasis lies on autonomy, in
the sense that all species and natural systems should be enabled
to ‘flourish’.

20. Social-Ecological Justice for
Humans
Animals
Biodiversity & Ecosystems
Planetary Systems & Boundaries

21. Thank you!