Unveiling the Interplay of Climate Vulnerability and Social Capital: Insights from West Bengal, India

In the 21st century, climate change poses complex challenges to society, including long-term shifts in temperature and precipitation, sea-level rise, and intensified climate extremes such as floods, cyclones, and wildfires. Climate vulnerability refers to a community’s susceptibility to adverse climate impacts, shaped by factors such as exposure to climate hazards, risk sensitivity, and adaptive capacity. In contrast, community resilience denotes a community’s ability to anticipate, absorb, adapt, and recover from climate shocks. Existing literature has primarily focused on the role of social capital in enhancing community resilience. The primary objective of this study is to explore the interplay between social capital and climate vulnerability – specifically, how different degrees of climate vulnerability shape social capital formation and influence its utilization. Using a comparative research design, this study explores two communities in West Bengal, India, with different degrees of climate vulnerability: Brajaballavpur (high-climate-prone) and Jemua (low-climate-prone). Through ethnographic field surveys, participatory rural appraisal (PRAs), focus group discussions (FGDs), and key informant interviews (KIIs), the study finds that high-climate-prone regions exhibit stronger bonding and bridging social capital, fostering collective action and mutual support, while low-climate-prone regions rely more on linking social capital, facilitating access to external resources and institutional support. These findings highlight the interplay between social capital and climate vulnerability, emphasizing the need for con-text-specific adaptation strategies. The study contributes to the discourse on climate adaptation by illustrating how social networks evolve in response to climate risks, with implications for strategic interventions to strengthen inclusive and equitable resilience mechanisms.