Emotional Adaptation to Climate Change: Key Foundation for a New Eco-Centered Paradigm

The effects of climate change have ceased to be a mere prediction for the future. The intensification of extreme weather events, their abrupt consequences, and the increasing vulnerability to their harmful effects, has brought adaptation to climate change to the forefront of the public agenda. Traditionally, adaptation has been understood to include ‘hard’ infrastructure measures, and ‘soft’ actions. However, the challenges posed to our communities have demonstrated to go well beyond their psychological and emotional preparedness to cope with them. This article aims at highlighting the importance of emotional adaptation to the effects of climate change as a tool for comprehending the changes that are occurring, cope with them, and then build a new kind of relationship with the environment. The article argues that emotional adaptation, fostered through art and cultural identity strengthening, is a useful means for achieving long-term sustainability by appealing to a profound and structural behavioural transformation.