CLIMATE ADAPTATION POLICY AND COMMUNITY RESILIENCE: CULTURAL IDENTITY, LIVELIHOODS, AND ENVIRONMENTAL DISPLACEMENT

Climate change has intensified the frequency and severity of extreme weather events, rising sea levels, prolonged droughts, biodiversity loss, and ecosystem degradation, compelling governments to adopt comprehensive climate adaptation policies aimed at enhancing societal resilience and reducing vulnerability. Although these adaptation initiatives seek to protect communities and critical infrastructure from environmental risks, their implementation often generates complex social, cultural, and economic consequences that disproportionately affect vulnerable populations. Indigenous peoples, rural communities, coastal settlements, and resource-dependent populations frequently experience disruptions to cultural identity, traditional livelihoods, land tenure, and social cohesion as adaptation measures reshape settlement patterns, resource access, and environmental governance. This study adopts a secondary research design, drawing upon existing academic literature, policy documents, government reports, NGO publications, and other documentary evidence to examine the relationships between climate adaptation policy, community resilience, cultural identity, livelihoods, and environmental displacement. Through a multidisciplinary synthesis of environmental governance, social resilience, and climate adaptation literature, the study explores how inclusive policymaking, community participation, traditional ecological knowledge, and adaptive governance influence resilience outcomes while reducing unintended socioeconomic and cultural impacts. The study further proposes a conceptual framework linking adaptation policy, community capacity, environmental change, cultural continuity, and sustainable livelihoods. The findings demonstrate that integrating community-centred approaches into climate adaptation strengthens resilience, preserves cultural heritage, minimises displacement risks, and promotes equitable, adaptive, and sustainable responses to accelerating environmental change.