Oppression and Privilege in the Context of a Changing Climate

Justice and equity are complicated topics even before they are intersected with the predictability of climate change impacts. At this month’s Living with Water meeting, researchers and climate solutions strategists engaged with generous representatives of host nations to discuss the ethics and engineering of climate adaptation. Some topics covered were:

• Sacrifices at the individual scale versus larger systemic scales

• Deeper structural and political problem-solving versus shallow or less sustainable approaches

• The influence of collective narratives and leverage

• Western-based biases and narratives versus non-Western biases and narratives

• The theoretical inevitability of discomfort in psychological learning and growth

The issue of labour distribution and time sensitivity in working with Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh Nations representatives was also addressed; as members became more mindful of demands and organizational capacities for consent, collaboration, and co-management. Being vulnerable from the beginning of the process, being open to learning and sharing information, and being committed to the topic(s) at hand, were attributes distinctly described and valued for remembering in the future.