A few years ago, I was upgraded on a trans-Pacific flight and seated next to a diplomat from the Middle East. We were headed to different conferences, but I think we were also both intrigued by each other’s work.

His view of climate change struck me hard: “I don’t think that climate change will have any important effect on our country in the Gulf… We don’t need to spend money on resilience.” 

“Luxury goods” are an insight from economics. A luxury good is nonessential, and typically demand for a luxury good increases with income. The opposite is a necessity good — something whose demand remains steady even as its price increases. I might need a car to get to work, but I don’t “need” a Lamborghini. By definition, a luxury is unnecessary. An extravagance. And resilience for him was clearly not worth the investment. Even as a luxury.

In a region building new habitable islands in exotic shapes and exploring personal drone taxis as an alternative to private jets, resilience must be very luxurious indeed.

“We know a lot about coping with limited water.” Yes, I’m sure — but what about the other kinds of climate impacts that are happening in your region, including the extreme floods? Sea-level rise? Air temperatures approaching the limits of human tolerance? Or even the extreme droughts experienced in the Middle East in recent centuries? “We’re not worried.” He was friendly. Just deeply unconcerned.

Who am I to judge? Perhaps climate adaptation was his version of fast fashion, something that could be ignored as the issue loses its appeal. In a few years, we’ll be speaking about something different?

Early in my career in adaptation, I met with some East African agencies: “We don’t have the money or time to make these energy investments climate resilient.” Five or 10 percent more on a World Bank loan and another six weeks of preparation seemed crazy to them. That was before utilities for large cities and massive hydropower began teetering on the precipice of a new status: climate-stranded assets. I don’t hear these objections in Africa anymore; resilience is a necessity. A Pakistani judge even argued to me that adaptation was so important that we should consider it a basic human right, written into all of our national constitutions.

I’ve been puzzled over my fellow traveler’s lack of interest in adaptation for a decade now. Data and science were clearly unpersuasive. Another colleague mentioned that climate science was not really published beyond a few European and East Asian languages, which probably means that media coverage in many countries is also limited. Did he think that the elite in France or California were ignoring these issues, so he could too? Are social cues important? Perhaps hearing his friends and colleagues raise the issue or a celebrity highlight the topic? Or seeing a minor weather disruption become a personal climate crisis? When does the promise of wealth lose its emotional security?

I hope he’s right and resilience remains a luxury for him, his community, his country. The adaptation and resilience community is not pushing an agenda or selling a consultancy. We are servants to those in need. And there is much need now.

John Matthews

Corvallis, Oregon, USA

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