Understanding The Relationship Between Natural Disasters, Bluelining, Insurance Market Reforms, and Climate Change Adaptation

Individuals facing increased climate risks must decide, as a way of adapting to those risks, whether to relocate or remain in place. The decision to stay or go depends on how people perceive local climate risks, their resources, and social attachment. Insurance shapes adaptation choices such as whether households rebuild, relocate, mobilize for public aid or engage in other actions. Political scientists Alexander Gazmararian, Sabrina Arias and Christopher Blair will examine how disasters, bluelining, and insurance reforms influence how people adapt to increasing climate risks. They develop an “exit-or-voice” theoretical framework to explain when and how people adapt to climate change, arguing that individuals facing mounting climate risks must decide whether to pursue exit or voice. Exiting involves moving to a less climate vulnerable area. Voice means choosing to remain in place and investing in private or collective forms of adaptation, such as home retrofits, community flood protection, or political action to demand government support.