Just Systems or Justice in Systems? Exploring the Ethical Implications of Systemic Resilience in Local Climate Adaptation

Abstract

The concept of systemic resilience, as it is understood in the context of climate change adaptation addressing systemic risks and polycrisis, is an inherently normative notion that carries ethical weight. To account for these implications, systemic resilience needs to be supplemented with ethical reflections on a system’s function, why it should be made resilient, and who the resilience serves. Crucially, considerations surrounding various forms of justice, such as participatory, procedural, distributive, and historical, need to be accounted for when making decisions about a community’s resilience in the face of increasing climate hazards. Resilience in the context of systemic risks and climate adaptation currently does not account for its ethical implications. This investigation builds on complexity science research and specifically the expanded concept of systemic resilience. In this article, the concept of systemic resilience is applied to the local level, highlighting its ethical underpinnings in the process. Specifically, a case-study explores the application of the ethically informed version of systemic climate resilience, exploring how the Rhine-Erft catchment in Germany could be assessed on this basis.

Keywords

Climate adaptation / Ethics / Resilience / Risk governance / Systems thinking / Theories of justice

References

[1] AvenT, Ben-HaimY, AndersenHB, CoxT, DroguettEL, GreenbergM, GuikemaSD, KrögerW, et al.Society for Risk Analysis glossary, 2018, McLean, VA. Society for Risk Analysis.

[2] BergmannM, SchäpkeN, MargO, StelzerF, LangDJ, BossertM, GantertM, HäußlerE, et al.. Transdisciplinary sustainability research in Real-World Labs: Success factors and methods for change. Sustainability Science, 2021, 16(2): 541-564.

[3] BrownC, ShakerRR, DasR. A review of approaches for monitoring and evaluation of urban climate resilience initiatives. Environment, Development and Sustainability, 2018, 20(1): 23-40.

[4] ButtTE, GiddingsRD, JonesKG. Environmental sustainability and climate change mitigation – CCS technology, better having it than not having it at all!. Environmental Progress & Sustainable Energy, 2012, 31(4): 642-649.

[5] ByskovMF, HyamsK, SatyalP, AnguelovskiI, BenjaminL, BlackburnS, BorieM, CaneyS, et al.. An agenda for ethics and justice in adaptation to climate change. Climate and Development, 2021, 13(1): 1-9.

[6] Chelleri, L., and A. Baravikova. 2021. Understandings of urban resilience meanings and principles across Europe. Cities 108: Article 102985.

[7] ChurchmanCWSystems analysis and organization theory – A critique, 1971, Berkeley, USA. University of California.

[8] Collier, S.J., and A. Lakoff. 2021. The government of emergency: Vital systems, expertise, and the politics of security. Princeton Studies in Culture and Technology. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

[9] Cumiskey, L., J. Parviainen, S. Bharwani, N. Ng, S. Bagli, M. Drews, C. Genillard, D. Hedderich, et al. 2025. Capacity development for locally-led knowledge co-production processes in Real World Labs for managing climate and disaster risk. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction 125: Article 105398.

[10] DoornN, GardoniP, MurphyC. A multidisciplinary definition and evaluation of resilience: The role of social justice in defining resilience. Sustainable and Resilient Infrastructure, 2019, 4(3): 112-123.

[11] EEA (European Research Executive Agency, European Commission). 2023. Communication, dissemination & exploitation. What is the difference and why they all matter. Brussels: Publications Office of the European Union.

[12] Fekete, A., and S. Sandholz. 2021. Here comes the flood, but not failure? Lessons to learn after the heavy rain and pluvial floods in Germany 2021. Water 13(21): Article 3016.

[13] Feldmeyer, D., D. Wilden, A. Jamshed, and J. Birkmann. 2020. Regional climate resilience index: A novel multimethod comparative approach for indicator development, empirical validation and implementation. Ecological Indicators 119: Article 106861.

[14] Folke, C., S.R. Carpenter, B. Walker, M. Scheffer, T. Chapin, and J. Rockström. 2010. Resilience thinking: Integrating resilience, adaptability and transformability. Ecology and Society 15(4): Article 20.

[15] ForresterJW. Industrial dynamics. Journal of the Operational Research Society, 1997, 48(10): 1037-1041.

[16] FraccasciaL, GiannoccaroI, AlbinoV. Resilience of complex systems: State of the art and directions for future research. Complexity, 2018.

[17] FraserN, HonnethARedistribution or recognition? A political-philosophical exchange, 2003, London. Verso.

[18] Friedrich, T., I. Stieß, G. Sunderer, C. Böhmer, W. Murawski, F. Knirsch, A. Otto, B. Wutzler, and A. Thieken. 2024. Kommunalbefragung Klimaanpassung 2023. Climate Change 34: Article 87.

[19] Gambhir, A., I. Butnar, P.-H. Li, P. Smith, and N. Strachan. 2019. A review of criticisms of integrated assessment models and proposed approaches to address these, through the lens of BECCS. Energies 12(9): Article 1747.

[20] Gill, J.C., M. Duncan, R. Ciurean, L. Smale, D. Stuparu, J. Schlumberger, M. de Ruiter, T. Tiggeloven, et al. 2022. Handbook of multi-hazard, multi-risk definitions and concepts. https://zenodo.org/records/7135138. Accessed 07.07.2025.

[21] GroveK, RickardsL. Contextualizing narratives of geography’s past, present, and future: Synthesis, difference, and cybernetic control. Environment and Planning F, 2022, 1(1): 26-40.

[22] GroveK, ReidG, MolinariS, FalconJ, Mehta-KrollA, Sosa El FakihE, Sepulveda-ReyesA, OrtizD. Absurd geographies of resilience and justice. Climate and Development, 2024, 16(9): 739-750.

[23] Gunderson, L. 2010. Ecological and human community resilience in response to natural disasters. Ecology and Society 15(2). https://www.jstor.org/stable/26268155.

[24] GundersonLHPanarchy: Understanding transformations in human and natural systems, 2012, Chicago. Island Press.

[25] HaasnootM, KwakkelJH, WalkerWE, ter MaatJ. Dynamic adaptive policy pathways: A method for crafting robust decisions for a deeply uncertain world. Global Environmental Change, 2013, 23(2): 485-498.

[26] HabermasJGenslerHJ. Discourse ethics. Ethics: Contemporary readings, 2004, London. Routledge. 146153

[27] Heinberg, A.M.R. 2023. Welcome to the great unraveling: Navigating the polycrisis of environmental and social breakdown. Post Carbon Institute, 15 June 2023. https://www.postcarbon.org/publications/welcome-to-the-great-unraveling/. Accessed 07.07.2025.

[28] HeywardCGardinerSM, ThompsonA. Ethics and climate adaptation. The Oxford handbook of environmental ethics, 2017, Oxford. Oxford University Press. 474486

[29] Hochrainer-Stigler, S., C. Colon, G. Boza, S. Poledna, E. Rovenskaya, and U. Dieckmann. 2020. Enhancing resilience of systems to individual and systemic risk: Steps toward an integrative framework. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction 51: Article 101868.

[30] HofbauerB. Normative uncertainty in solar climate engineering research governance. Ethics, Policy & Environment, 2023, 27(3): 451-470.

[31] HollingCS. Resilience and stability of ecological systems. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics, 1973, 4: 1-23.

[32] Holmes, R. 2020. The problem with solutions. Places. https://doi.org/10.22269/200714.

[33] HourdequinMEnvironmental ethics: From theory to practice, 20242London. Bloomsbury Academic. .

[34] ISC (International Science Council)ISC-UNDRR-RISK KAN briefing note on systemic risk, 2022, Paris. ISC.

[35] IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change). 2014. Summary for policymakers. In Climate change 2014: Impacts, adaptation, and vulnerability. Part A: Global and sectoral aspects. Contribution of Working Group II to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 1–32. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

[36] IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change). 2023. IPCC, 2023: Sections. In Climate change 2023: Synthesis report. Contribution of Working Groups I, II and III to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, ed. Core Writing Team, H. Lee, and J. Romero, 33–115. Geneva: IPCC.

[37] Juhola, S., T. Filatova, S. Hochrainer-Stigler, R. Mechler, J. Scheffran, and P.-J. Schweizer. 2022. Social tipping points and adaptation limits in the context of systemic risk: Concepts, models and governance. Frontiers in Climate 4: Article 1009234.

[38] KeatingA, CampbellK, MechlerR, MagnuszewskiP, MochizukiJ, LiuW, SzoenyiM, McQuistanC. Disaster resilience: What it is and how it can engender a meaningful change in development policy. Development Policy Review, 2017, 35(1): 65-91.

[39] KwakkelJH, HaasnootMMarchauVAWJ, WalkerWE, BloemenPJTM, PopperSW. Supporting DMDU: A taxonomy of approaches and tools. Decision making under deep uncertainty: From theory to practice, 2019, Cham. Springer. 355374.

[40] Li, T., Y. Dong, and Z. Liu. 2020. A review of social-ecological system resilience: Mechanism, assessment and management. Science of the Total Environment 723: Article 138113.

[41] MarchauVAWJ, WalkerWE, BloemenPJTM, PopperSWDecision making under deep uncertainty: From theory to practice, 20191Cham. Springer.

[42] MarkandyaA, González-EguinoMMechlerR, BouwerLM, SchinkoT, SurminskiS, Linnerooth-BayerJ. Integrated assessment for identifying climate finance needs for loss and damage: A critical review. Loss and damage from climate change: Concepts, methods and policy options, 2019, Cham. Springer. 343362.

[43] NikasA, DoukasH, PapandreouADoukasH, FlamosA, LieuJ. A detailed overview and consistent classification of climate-economy models. Understanding risks and uncertainties in energy and climate policy, 2019, Cham. Springer. 154

[44] NozickRAnarchy, State, and Utopia, 1974, New York. Basic Books. 5038

[45] O’Grady, N. 2025. On the possibility of “just resilience”: A pragmatist approach to justice-based climate change governance. Geoforum 159: Article 104163.

[46] OstromE. Background on the institutional analysis and development framework. Policy Studies Journal, 2011, 39(1): 7-27.

[47] Parviainen, J., S. Hochrainer-Stigler, L. Cumiskey, S. Bharwani, P.-J. Schweizer, B. Hofbauer, and D. Cubie. 2025. The risk-tandem framework: An iterative framework for combining risk governance and knowledge co-production toward integrated disaster risk management and climate change adaptation. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction 116: Article 105070.

[48] RawlsJ. Outline of a decision procedure for ethics. The Philosophical Review, 1951, 60(2): 177-197.

[49] Rawls, J. 1999. A theory of justice: Revised edition. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.

[50] Renn, O. 2018. Real-World Laboratories – The road to transdisciplinary research? GAIA – Ecological Perspectives for Science and Society 27(1): 1–1.

[51] RennOWallenhorstN, WulfC. Resilience. Handbook of the Anthropocene, 2023, Cham. Springer. 969972.

[52] Rodrigues, R.R., and T.G. Shepherd. 2022. Small is beautiful: Climate-change science as if people mattered. PNAS Nexus 1(1): Article pgac009.

[53] Schäpke, N., F. Stelzer, G. Caniglia, M. Bergmann, M. Wanner, M. Singer-Brodowski, D. Loorbach, P. Olsson, C. Baedeker, and D.J. Lang. 2018. Jointly experimenting for transformation? Shaping Real-World Laboratories by comparing them. GAIA – Ecological Perspectives for Science and Society 27(1): 85–96.

[54] SchinkA. Das Bundes-Klimaanpassungsgesetz (KAnG). Natur und Recht, 2024, 46(10): 670-677.

[55] SchumacherEFSmall is beautiful: A study of economics as if people mattered, 1973, New York. Random House.

[56] SchweizerP-J. Systemic risks – Concepts and challenges for risk governance. Journal of Risk Research, 2021, 24(1): 78-93.

[57] Schweizer, P.-J., and S. Juhola. 2024. Navigating systemic risks: Governance of and for systemic risks. Global Sustainability 7: Article e38.

[58] SchweizerP-J, RennO. Governance of systemic risks for disaster prevention and mitigation. Disaster Prevention and Management: An International Journal, 2019, 28(6): 862-874.

[59] ScolobigA, PriorT, SchröterD, JörinJ, PattA. Towards people-centred approaches for effective disaster risk management: Balancing rhetoric with reality. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 2015, 12: 202-212.

[60] Sterman, J. 2000. Business dynamics: System thinking and modeling for a complex world. Irwin McGraw-Hill.

[61] TaebiB. Bridging the gap between social acceptance and ethical acceptability: Perspective. Risk Analysis, 2017, 37(10): 1817-1827.

[62] Taebi, B., J.H. Kwakkel, and C. Kermisch. 2020. Governing climate risks in the face of normative uncertainties. WIREs Climate Change 11(5): Article e666.

[63] Ungar, M. 2018. Systemic resilience: Principles and processes for a science of change in contexts of adversity. Ecology and Society 23(4): Article art34.

[64] ValdiviesoP, AnderssonKP. Local politics of environmental disaster risk management: Institutional analysis and lessons from Chile. The Journal of Environment & Development, 2017, 26(1): 51-81.

[65] Valentini, L. 2012. Ideal vs. non-ideal theory: A conceptual map. Philosophy Compass 7(9): 654–664.

[66] WalkerGH, StantonNA, SalmonPM, JenkinsDP. A review of sociotechnical systems theory: A classic concept for new command and control paradigms. Theoretical Issues in Ergonomics Science, 2008, 9(6): 479-499.

[67] WhyteKP. The recognition dimensions of environmental justice in Indian country. Environmental Justice, 2011, 4(4): 199-205.

[68] YoungIMResponsibility for justice. Oxford Political Philosophy, 2011, Oxford. Oxford University Press. .

[69] ZimmC, Mintz-WooK, BrutschinE, Hanger-KoppS, HoffmannR, KikstraJS, KuhnM, MinJ, et al.. Justice considerations in climate research. Nature Climate Change, 2024, 14(1): 22-30.

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

The Author(s)