The cultural politics of climate change adaptation: An analysis of the tourism sector in Aotearoa New Zealand

Abstract

A huge number of climate change adaptation projects are underway to manage risk and minimise vulnerability for communities and businesses. Yet, adaptation processes are often ineffective because of deeply entrenched structures of power and different value systems leading to conflicting priorities for action. This paper draws on the notion of cultural politics to understand climate change adaptation in the tourism sector of Aotearoa New Zealand, a sector that depends on the environment for its survival but neglects it for short-term gains, often precipitating maladaptation in the process. Building on insights into how and why the tourism industry – in a pre-COVID19 context – struggled to adapt to the urgent imperatives of climate change, the paper goes on to show how a culture-centred, deliberative democratic approach can be applied to identify pathways for a transition to an environmentally sustainable tourism sector that can adapt to a climate-changed and pandemic-affected world.