







































Ecology, Economy and Society–the INSEE Journal 6(2): 269-272, July 2023 

 

BOOK REVIEW 

Uncertainty and Climate Change Policymaking in 
India 

Sadaf Javed 

Mehta, Lyla, Hans Nicolai Adam, and Shilpi Srivastava, eds. 2022. The 
Politics of Climate Change and Uncertainty in India. New York: Routledge. 
  

Edited by Lyla Mehta, Hans 
Nicolai Adam, and Shilpi 
Srivastava, The Politics of Climate 
Change and Uncertainty in India is 
an important and timely 
contribution to the ever-
expanding interest in climate 
change studies. The volume is 
an inter-disciplinary effort, 
with essays focused on 
addressing what the editors 
term the “science and politics 
of uncertainty”, which is often 
described as the “super wicked 
problem” that undermines 
effective policymaking. All the 
essays in the volume are 
informed by richly textured 
ethnographies, intensive 
fieldwork, ground-based 
surveys, and the study of 
archival sources. Lastly, the 

 
 PhD Candidate, Department of Geography, Rutgers, State University of New Jersey. 
sadaf.javed@rutgers.edu  

Copyright © Javed 2023. Released under Creative Commons Attribution © NonCommercial 
4.0 International licence (CC BY-NC 4.0) by the author.  

Published by Indian Society for Ecological Economics (INSEE), c/o Institute of  Economic 
Growth, University Enclave, North Campus, Delhi 110007.  

ISSN: 2581–6152 (print); 2581–6101 (web).  

DOI: https://doi.org/10.37773/ees.v6i2.1039  

 

mailto:sadaf.javed@rutgers.edu
https://doi.org/10.37773/ees.v6i2.1039


 Ecology, Economy and Society–the INSEE Journal [270] 

 

studies are mainly focused on three ecological zones in India: Kutch 
(western India), the Sundarbans (the deltaic segment of eastern India), and 
Mumbai (one of India’s sprawling megacities on the west coast). As the 
editors inform us in the Introduction, these three distinct ecological 
locations are marked by their ecological contrasts: drylands, deltaic 
ecosystems, and rural–urban/peri-urban complexity. 

The introductory chapter by Srivastava, et al. discusses how one specific 
strand of thinking about uncertainty dominates, which involves making 
abstract future projections and scenario-building through modelling 
exercises. However, such modelling efforts, as pointed out, often fail to 
incorporate different perspectives, especially those of disempowered and 
marginal communities and their livelihood strategies. In contrast, by 
documenting and engaging with the lived experiences of vulnerable 
populations, the authors aver that more meaningful and transformative 
policymaking can be achieved. In other words, we need to move away from 
having a singular focus on “scientific expertise” and instead also 
incorporate and engage with how climate change uncertainties and impacts 
play out at the popular level. In effect, for the authors, studies need to keep 
a conversation going between various levels of experiences, calculations, 
and realities: from the “above” (expert knowledge associated with science 
and policy), the “below” (lived experiences of the local people), and the 
“middle” (the knowledge brokers or intermediaries between the “above” 
and “below”). According to the authors, these new “hybrid perspectives” or 
“hybrid alliances” (13) could bridge the various gaps in knowledge on 
climate change impacts and could then potentially “facilitate processes that 
embrace rather than eliminate uncertainty” (3). This chapter also 
compellingly unpacks the three types of uncertainties: a) aleatoric or 
ecological uncertainties, b) knowledge or epistemic uncertainties, and c) 
uncertainties linked to larger political economy conditions.  

The second chapter by Mehta, et al. focuses on how uncertainty is 
understood and represented by the “above”, which includes climate 
scientists and members of “high science” as well as policymakers at the 
national and sub-national levels. According to the authors, it is important to 
think about how climate change uncertainty is understood from “above”, as 
experts, policymakers, and scientists are those who frame climate change 
policy decisions and aid decision-making on funding priorities (29). This 
chapter, in essence, is a call for collaborative actions between members of 
the “above” and laypeople, by arguing that there is a pressing and urgent 
need to integrate local knowledges and micro-level information into 
policymaking. Methodologically, the chapter relies on rich qualitative 
interviews with various scientists and policymakers in India and abroad. 



[271] Javed 

 
 

Chapter 3 discusses uncertainty by drawing upon and engaging with the 
field of environmental history. Through a careful study of archival records 
(1800 onwards), Damodaran, et al. track how the colonial government and 
local communities reacted to extreme weather events and environmental 
shocks in colonial Kutch (Gujarat) and the Sundarbans (West Bengal). The 
chapter is mainly aimed at comparing and contrasting the “above” (the 
colonial state and the postcolonial state) and the “below” (nomads and 
pastoralists from Kutch and Sundarbans), with regard to how uncertainty 
can be associated with “marginal environments” (extreme weather and 
natural events) and the “environmental normal” (typical seasonal weather 
patterns and relatively stable environments). Unlike the other essays, this 
chapter is exclusively based on the study of archival records and skilfully 
reveals how the colonial state often misjudged local adaptation strategies 
and entirely misread how inhabitants in the Kutch and the Sundarbans both 
coped and harnessed a range of opportunities within extreme 
environmental contexts. 

The three remaining chapters (Chapters 4–6)—with their empirical focus 
on Kutch, the Sundarbans, and Mumbai—discuss how uncertainty can be 
conceptualized through various socio-ecological standpoints. The case 
studies, however, are mostly confined to exploring and documenting the 
diverse responses of those who comprise the “below”: the Koli community 
(fishing community) from Mumbai, the pastoralists from the Kutch region, 
and the islanders in the Sundarbans. By highlighting their perspectives and 
everyday adaptation strategies, the authors point out that these marginal and 
vulnerable communities need climate change policymaking to consider their 
specific and concrete anxieties about uncertainty, rather than only speaking 
to high science and model-building or calculations around probable 
scenarios. Overall, these empirically driven and field work–based chapters 
provide enough evidence to argue for the co-production of knowledge and 
the need for a “hybrid perspective” in climate change policymaking.  

The concluding chapter builds on the important arguments of the previous 
chapters and paves the way for recommendations for future research 
around climate change–induced uncertainties. By building on various 
rounds of meetings and roundtable conversations with multiple 
stakeholders—that occurred at research sites as well as outside—the final 
chapter focuses on the importance of the “plurality of perspectives and 
how one can work towards bridging the gaps in understanding and 
perspectives” (179). In sum, the call is to revive the focus on everyday 
knowledges and the experiences of marginal and vulnerable communities 
for policymaking. 



 Ecology, Economy and Society–the INSEE Journal [272] 

 

In a nutshell, this collection is a convincing effort and timely addition to the 
fast-growing interest in climate change literature. In my opinion, it will be 
extremely valuable for students, journalists, scientists, and policymakers, 
who are on the frontline of efforts aimed at understanding and 
documenting climate change impacts. Most importantly, as discussed prior, 
this edited volume adds to the critical discourse on climate change 
adaptation by emphasising the value of incorporating diverse perspectives 
for effective policymaking in India and beyond. In sum, The Politics of Climate 
Change makes a compelling case for restoring the centrality of “place-based” 
indigenous knowledge and experiences in the formulation of solutions to 
the gravest challenge of our times. 

Conflict of Interest Statement: No potential conflict of interest was 
reported by the author. 

REFERENCES 

Mehta, Lyla, Hans Nicolai Adam, and Shilpi Srivastava, eds. 2022. The Politics of 
Climate Change and Uncertainty in India. New York: Routledge.  

 

 


