Researching Global Environmental Politics in the 21st Century

Viola

2018

Global Policy

Scientists believe that humanity has already crossed the core planetary boundary for climate change, and is closer to crossing thresholds that trigger abrupt and irreversible environmental changes. Consequently, academia and the international political community should not disregard the prospect of a catastrophic environmental event. However, discussions about climate change usually assume the resilience of potentially deteriorating terrestrial‐biosphere carbon sinks and rarely acknowledge catastrophic climate risk. Reviewing the latest scientific evidence on anthropogenic climate change, as well as the current and projected threats to the resilience of key large forest biomes, and combining them with the profound political frailties of the Paris Climate Agreement, this article argues that catastrophic climate risk is much more serious and likely than most of humanity is able to perceive and should thus be seriously considered. It emphasizes the massive gap between science and political action and how cognitive, cultural, institutional, and political limitations hinder our capacity to envisage, prevent, and ultimately manage catastrophic climate change. The article concludes by briefly raising awareness regarding the role that academia should play in catastrophic climate risk reduction.

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Catastrophic Climate Change and Forest Tipping Points: Blind Spots in International Politics and Policy

Viola

2018

Global Policy

“…The discipline seems to be deeply abstract, having little relevance and failing to respond to real-world threats (Erskine and Booth 2016;Sylvester 2016). The articles published in Global Environmental Politics also corroborate this fact: "GEP scholars are clustering around ever-smaller academic debates, potentially alienating them from policy and activist communities (and at times, even from other academics)" (Dauvergne and Clapp 2016). For a discipline that is explicitly devoted to security and survival on a global scale, this is a huge limitation.…”

Section: What Can Ir Learn From Embracing the Anthropocene Concept?mentioning

confidence: 86%

The limitations of ir theory regarding the environment: lessons from the anthropocene

2017

Rev. bras. polít. int.

• Este é um artigo publicado em acesso aberto e distribuído sob os termos da AbstractDespite its relevance in the global arena, the environment does not receive the attention that it deserves within the discipline of International Relations (IR). An analysis of all of the articles published in 20 journals of relevance in IR between 2004 and 2014 supports that environmental issues have largely been disregarded. This article traces IR's distant attitude towards the environment to its conventional disciplinary structures, arguing that the planet's new conditions challenge the discipline's dominant theory. It is suggested that, by rewriting itself and embracing the Anthropocene concept, IR may enhance its relevance and strengthen its impact. Recognizing uncertainty, abandoning the nature-society dichotomy and adopting a post-anthropocentric perspective are some of the possible pathways presented for the future of IR.

“…This is also visible in articles published in Global Environmental Politics: 'GEP scholars are clustering around ever-smaller academic debates, potentially alienating them from policy and activist communities (and at times, even from other academics)' (Dauvergne and Clapp 2016).…”

Section: Research Challenges and Opportunities For Irmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cities and Water Security in the Anthropocene: Research Challenges and Opportunities for International Relations

Freitas

2017

Contexto int.

Abstract:Cities have become important actors in international relations, and integral to security and environmental politics. We are living in an increasingly urban world, dominated by human settlements and activities. The central role now played by humans in shaping the planet has led us into an uncertain, unstable, and dangerous geological epoch -the Anthropocene -that poses great and additional challenges to security. Local and global spheres are connected as never before, generating 'glocal' issues in which water plays a central role. Water is the element that interconnects the complex web of food, energy, climate, economic growth, and human security. In a rapidly urbanising world, cities influence the hydrological cycle in major but uncertain ways, affecting water resources beyond their boundaries. There is no doubt that these issues are highly relevant to the discipline of International Relations (IR). However, IR scholars have been slow to engage with them, and most academic studies of cities and water security still emanate from the natural sciences. This article examines the ways in which cities in the Anthropocene challenge water security, and why IR needs to reinvent itself if it wants to sustain its contribution to global security.