The Intrinsic Value of Climate Change Adaptation

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In the latest episode of America Adapts, Doug Parsons talks with Shaun Martin, Senior Director of Adaptation and Resilience at the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).

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Doug and Shaun then talk about WWF’s long and storied history in adaptation planning, WWF being one of the first groups to develop its own internal adaptation program. Shaun walks through the nuts and bolts of developing an adaptation program and what it means for a group that already has a longstanding history of groundbreaking conservation programs. Shaun discusses the sometimes difficult journey of merging existing conservation efforts with new approaches like adaptation. Shaun also discusses the key role training plays in adaptation planning at WWF, not only with his staff, but with people working in the field. The Titanic is used as an analogy for adaption in our discussion, as Shaun walks us through what that means, and it’s not as bleak as you might think.

Shaun provides the insight, that as conservationists, we are not emotionally equipped as adaptionists to deal with the many difficult future decisions on species and ecosystems, in the context of climate change, that will need to be made. Doug and Shaun discuss the cultural shifts needed in the conservation community to ‘give up’ on species, and are the policy pieces in place to help make those decisions. Doug and Shaun also discuss the long standing notion of the intrinsic value of nature, why that doesn’t resonate with the broader public, and how adaptation can be a unifying theme between intrinsic value and ecosystem services.

Shaun is an expert is Ecosystem Based Adaptation (EBA) and the two spend considerable time discussing this topic, its similarities to ecosystem service, and how it’s been used in the field.