In the face of the increasing damage caused by climate change to all human systems (e.g., IPCC 2018), the probability that we can stay below a 1.5 °C average increase in the global surface temperature keeps shrinking (Nordhaus, 2018; Rogelj et al., 2018). Existing mitigation policies are insufficient and require an unprecedented level of coordination, whereas coherence between mitigation and adaptation is crucial. In addition, inequalities and environmental changes tend to reinforce each other so that climate policies are doomed to be ineffective if strong inequalities persist (Rogelj et al., 2018). Mitigation and adaptation policies therefore need to be consistent not only among themselves but also with redistributional and equity principles. Against this background, maladaptation represents one of the global emerging environmental challenges (UNEP, 2019). Maladaptation (IPCC, 2001 and 2018; Barnett and O’Neill, 2010; Antoci et al., 2019) denotes self-protective strategies (Shogren and Crocker, 1991; Antoci and Bartolini, 2004; Antoci and Borghesi, 2012) which exacerbate environmental problems or shift negative impacts, risks, and exposure to other population groups or countries (Antoci, 2009; Antoci and Borghesi, 2010; Antoci et al., 2005, 2008, 2015). As the latter are often the most vulnerable ones, maladaptation may also lead to regressive distributive consequences. Air conditioning is a paradigmatic example of maladaptation, but empirical literature has documented instances in other areas and sectors, such as the tourism sector, water management, geoengineering, infrastructural development, disaster relief and resettlement, agriculture practices, land use changes, migration choices, insurance schemes, and urban planning (Hamin and Gurran 2009; Barnett and O’Neill 2010; Pouliotte et al. 2009; McEvoy and Wilder 2012; Klein et al. 2014; Fezzi et al. 2015; Wagner and Weitzman, 2015; Weitzman, 2015; Magnan et al. 2016; UNEP 2019). However, UNEP (2019) also stresses that every adaptation strategy that increases the opportunity cost of moving to a more sustainable alternative is maladaptation, as it has detrimental effects on long-term sustainability. Maladaptation dynamics can be shaped by coordination, information and institutional failures, by asymmetric power and economic relations, or by mismatches between short-term benefits and long-run costs. A better understanding of maladaptation dynamics is challenging as well as necessary to formulate effective and socially sustainable solutions to climate change and environmental problems. This Special Issue aims to collect research and case studies filling knowledge gaps in this field. In this perspective, this Special Issue calls for theoretical, empirical, or conceptual papers, case studies and policy analyses that investigate the multifaceted aspects of maladaptation, with a special attention on papers focusing on: Measurement and categorization of maladaptation; Drivers and dynamics of maladaptive strategies; Effects of maladaptation on economic growth, sustainability, inequality, and poverty; Policy measures, guidelines and initiatives to reduce potential for maladaptation at the local, national, and international level.
Keywords: Maladaptation; Climate change; Negative externalities; Inequality; Social and economic sustainability.