Climate change is a defining issue in contemporary life. Since the Industrial Revolution, heavy reliance on carbon-based sources for energy in industry and society has contributed to substantial changes in the climate, indicated by increases in temperature and sea level rise.
In the last three decades, concerns regarding human contributions to climate change have moved from obscure scientific inquiries to the fore of science, politics, policy and practices at many levels. From local adaptation strategies to international treaty negotiation, ‘the politics of climate change’ is as pervasive, vital and contested as it has ever been.
On the cusp of a new commitment to international co-operation to rein in greenhouse gas emissions, this essential book intervenes to help understand and engage with the dynamic and compelling ‘Politics of Climate Change’.
This edited collection draws on a vast array of experience, expertise and perspectives, with authors with backgrounds in climate science, geography, environmental studies, biology, sociology, political science, psychology and philosophy. This reflects the contemporary conditions where the politics of climate change permeates and penetrates all facets of our shared lives and livelihoods.
Chapters include the Politics of Climate Science, History of Climate Policy, the Cultural Politics of Climate Change: Interactions in the Spaces of Everyday, the Politics of Interstate Climate Negotiations, the Politics of the Carbon Economy, and Addressing Inequality.
An A – Z glossary of key terms offers additional information in dictionary format, with entries on topics including Carbon tax, Stabilization, Renewable technologies and the World Meteorological Organization.
A section of Maps offers a visual overview of the effects of environmental change.
Foreword: Tim O'Riordan Introduction: Max Boykoff 1. The Politics of Climate Science Stephen H. Schneider and Michael D. Mastrandrea 2. The History of International Climate Change Politics: Three Decades of Progress, Process and Procrastination Heike Schroeder 3. The Politics of Interstate Climate Negotiations Chukwumerije Okereke 4. Protagonists in the Market of Climate Change Knowledge Hans Von Storch 5. The Politics of the Carbon Economy Peter Newell and Matthew Paterson 6. The Politics of Adaptation Across Scales: The Implications of Additionality to Policy Choice and Development Maria Carmen Lemos and Emily Boyd 7. Addressing Inequality and Building Trust to Secure a Post-2012 Global Climate Deal Bradley C. Parks and J. Timmons Roberts 8. Cultural Politics of Climate Change: Interactions in Everyday Spaces Maxwell T. Boykoff, Michael K. Goodman and Ian Curtis 9. Costly Knowledge – Unaffordable Denial: The Politics of Public Understanding and Engagement on Climate Change Susanne C. Moser A – Z Glossary Maxwell T. Boykoff and Chukwumerije Okereke Maps and Statistics
Biography
Maxwell T. Boykoff is Associate Professor in the Center for Science and Technology Policy, and Fellow in the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) at the University of Colorado-Boulder. In Boulder he also teaches in the Environmental Studies programme. Previously, he was a James Martin Research Fellow in the Environmental Change Institute and a Departmental Lecturer in the School of Geography and the Environment at the University of Oxford. He researches issues involving transformations of carbon-based economies and societies, as well as cultural politics and the environment. Cutting across these themes, hi research has concentrated on interactions between state and non-state actors at the interface of environmental science, policy considerations, the role of celebrity endeavours in climate change issues, and links to ethics, environmental justice movements, climate adaptation and public understanding.
'This edited volume comes at a critical time in the international negotiations on climate change. While progress on climate policy since the 1990s has not been rapid, the picture is now changing quickly. Time is short to agree the national and international climate policies that will puts us on path to achieving a 50 per cent reduction in annual global emission flows relative to 1990 by 2050. Equity issues rightly remain at the forefront of the negotiations, and this volume provides several stimulating perspectives on important political aspects of the global climate negotiations.' - Lord Nicholas Stern, IG Patel Chair and Director, LSE Asia Research Centre
'These essays on the politics of climate change provide timely and thoughtful insights into the theory and practice of climate science, climate politics, mitigation and adaptation. They are essential reading for those interested in international climate policy as well as the everyday cultural politics of public responses to climate change.'- Professor Diana Liverman, Institute of the Environment, University of Arizona, and Environmental Change Institute, University of Oxford
