9. Address power imbalances to foster equitable resilience

How inequalities undermine resilience

Social inequalities and power asymmetries shape the impact of a disruption or change process. Those without rights, with the least amount of power, are the ones most at risk. They have the fewest resources necessary to respond when disruption occurs. When resilience interventions ignore these dynamics, they may appear effective on the surface, but in fact they deepen exclusion, fuel distrust, and fracture the social connections and cooperation that underpin the kind of resilience needed to achieve sustainable and just outcomes. Initiatives that fail to recognise inequity become exploitative or ineffective, benefiting those already in positions of power while sidelining others.

This means that, while resilience initiatives are often presented as progressive and inclusive, they can often produce the opposite effect and unintentionally create winners and losers. For instance, urban climate adaptation projects may displace low-income communities in their construction of exclusive climate- friendly neighbourhoods. Similarly, large-scale conservation efforts can sideline the needs of Indigenous and other local actors who have stewarded these ecosystems for generations. Instead of driving real, transformative change, such initiatives risk undermining long-standing resilience practices. This can deepen existing inequalities, erode democratic processes, and promote conflict.

Equitable resilience, as a guiding principle, promotes actions that build resilience in fair and inclusive ways. It seeks distributional, procedural, and recognitional justice by ensuring equal protection from harm and fair access to benefits. At the same time, equitable resilience can also serve as a framework for analysis. It can help uncover the root causes of inequity and identify who is included in or excluded from decision-making, and understand how these dynamics shape unequal access to benefits and protection from harm.

Historical legacies shape resilience capacities and agency

Resilience is deeply influenced by inequalities rooted in history. Centuries of colonialism, slavery, racism, and economic exclusion have left many communities—particularly Indigenous, rural populations in the Global South—with limited resources and decision-making power. At the same time, those who have disproportionately contributed to environmental degradation—such as wealthy individuals, corporations, and industrialised nations—have the means and political influence to shield themselves from harm and influence the terms of change in their favour.

This uneven playing field gives rise to troubling patterns and paradoxes. Communities with real, lived resilience, including coping and adaptive strategies built over generations, are sometimes overlooked or undervalued in formal resilience interventions. In turn, some systems—like the fossil fuel or mining sectors—are highly resilient, but in ways that cause environmental harm and social inequality. These imbalances must be acknowledged and addressed to ensure that resilience-building is fair, inclusive, and effective for all.

In many cases, actors who benefit from the status quo seek to resist change, maintain their privileges, and slow progress towards broader system transformation. When equity and justice are not placed at the centre of resilience interventions, this leads to unsustainable practices—such as overconsumption, poor environmental compliance, or natural resource exploitation—all of which can erode the long-term resilience of both ecosystems and communities.

Centring equity and justice in resilience intervention

Equitable resilience should be placed at the centre of the strategies, actions, and innovations implemented to promote resilience. This involves addressing how risks, benefits, and harms are distributed and ensuring that decision-making processes are inclusive and meaningful, especially for those who have historically been excluded from them. It also requires acknowledging and valuing diverse kinds of knowledge and practices. Superficial fixes or compensation alone are not enough. Addressing structural inequities calls for more substantial, even transformative, shifts, confronting systems tied to historical injustices, resource-dependent economic models, and exclusionary governance.

Ultimately, equitable resilience is about ensuring that resilience serves all, and not just a few. It requires confronting uncomfortable truths, rethinking dominant narratives, and creating space for more inclusive, just, and transformative pathways toward a sustainable future.