The Oxford Handbook of Climate Change and Society

Description

The Oxford Handbook of Climate Change and Society presents an analysis of this issue that draws on the best thinking on questions of how climate change affects human systems, and how societies can, do, and should respond. Key topics covered include the history of the issues, the social and political reception of climate science, the denial of that science by individuals and organized interests, the nature of the social disruptions caused by climate change, the economics of those disruptions and possible responses to them, questions of human security and social justice, obligations to future generations, policy instruments for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and governance at local, regional, national, international, and global levels. Frontmatter Half-title Full-title Colophon Acknowledgements Contents List of Contributors Part I: Introduction 1. Climate Change and Society: Approaches and Responses 1. Science and Society 2. From Science to Economics 3. The Public Realm, and its Problems 4. Justice and Vulnerability 5. Governments 6. Global Action (and Inaction) 7. Organization of this Handbook 8. Conclusion References Part II: The Challenge and its History 2. A Truly Complex and Diabolical Policy Problem 1. Introduction 2. Nature of Climate Change 3. Specific Challenges for Governance 4. Novel Approaches to Meeting the Climate Change Challenge 5. Reconceptualizing the Climate Change Problem References 3. The Nature of the Problem 1. Introduction 2. Change and Stability 3. Problems 4. Framing 5. Prudence and Policy 6. Morality and Justice 7. Politics and Governance 8. Cognition and Complexity 9. Concluding Remarks Notes References 4. The Poverty of Climate Economics 1. Climate Change Is Not a Collective Action Problem 2. An Objection 3. Climate Change is Not a Market Failure 4. Property Rights 5. Cap and Trade 6. Command and Control 7. Conclusion References 5. The Development of the Concept of Dangerous Anthropogenic Climate Change 1. A New Concern Emerges (1930-1969) 2. Scientific Evidence Builds up (1970-1987) 3. Pressure for Policy Action (1988-2001) 4. Consensus on Science but not Policy (2001 and after) Notes References 6. Voices of Vulnerability: The Reconfiguration of Policy Discourses 1. Introduction: Giving Voice to the Planet 2. Climate Change: Why Talk about Words When We Have Things to Do? 3. 'More equable and better climates': From the Early Scientists to the IPCC Process 4. 'First get the facts right': The IPCC and the Drafting of a Sciento-political Consensus 5. What's a Sink? The Economization of Climate Change Discourse 6. From Facts to Strategies 7. Beaten by a Hockey Stick? Perceiving/Performing Climate Change 8. The Vulnerability of Discourse: The Winter of 2009-2010 as a Critical Moment 9. Conclusion Notes References 7. Environmentality 1. Governmentality and Environmentality 2. Climate Change and Environmentality 3. The Challenges of Environmental Governance 4. Environmentality and Options for Resistance References Part III: Science, Society, and Public Opinion 8. The Physical Sciences and Climate Politics 1. Orientation 2. History of Climate Science 3. Methodical Challenges of the Physics of Climate 4. The Socio-cultural Context 5. Conclusions Notes References 9. Cosmopolitan Knowledge: Climate Science and Global Civic Epistemology 1. Introduction 2. Public Science: A Conceptual History 3. Climate Science and National Civic Epistemologies 3.1 United States 3.2 Britain 3.3 Germany 4. Building Cosmopolitan Knowledge Notes References 10. Organized Climate Change Denial 1. History and Strategy of Climate Change Denial 2. Major Actors 2.1 Fossil Fuels Industry and Corporate America 2.2 Conservative Philanthropists, Foundations, and Think Tanks 2.3 Front Groups 2.4 Contrarian Scientists 2.5 Conservative Media 2.6 Conservative Politicians 2.7 Astroturf Groups and Campaigns 2.8 International Diffusion of Climate Change Denial 3. Conclusion Notes References 11. Communicating Climate Change: Closing the Science-Action Gap 1. Introduction 2. Opportunities and Challenges for Improving Communication 2.1 Inspiration with Information 2.2 Mobilization by Fear 2.3 One Size Fits All 2.4 Mobilization through Mass Media 3. Communication in Context: Some Conclusions References Part IV: Social Impacts 12. Economic Estimates of the Damages Caused by Climate Change 1. Introduction 2. Recent Damage Studies 2.1 Adaptation 2.2 Dynamic Modeling 2.3 Benefits of Warming 2.4 Predicting Future Impacts 2.5 Global and International Studies 3. Conclusion References 13. Weighing Climate Futures: A Critical Review of the Application of Economic Valuation 1. Historical Background to Current Methodological Problems 2. Early Economic Analyses and Valuations 3. Climate Change in General Equilibrium and the Nature of the Valuation Debate 4. The Stern Review of Climate Economics and its Critics 5. Conclusions Notes References 14. Global Change Vulnerability Assessments: Definitions, Challenges, And Opportunnities 1. Introduction 2. Origins and Current Trajectories of GCVAs 2.1 Climate Impact Assessment 2.2 Social Vulnerability Assessment 2.3 Assessment of Social-Ecological Systems 3. Global Change Vulnerability Assessments: Five Criteria 4. Two Major Outstanding Challenges 5. Conclusion References 15. Health Hazards 1. Introduction 2. Climate Changes and Human Health 3. Heat Exposure 4. Policy Responses to Heat 5. Extreme Weather Events 6. Food and Water Security 7. Infectious Diseases 8. Combined Impacts 9. Climate Change: Deepening Global Inequities 10. Adaptation 11. Conclusion References 16. Indigenous Peoples and Cultural Losses 1. Introduction 2. Cultural Loss and Environmental Justice 2.1 Indigenous Social-Ontology and Environmental Colonialism 2.2 An Environmental Justice Framework 2.3 Backgrounding Environmental Colonialism 2.4 Participatory Parity, Adaptation, and Mitigation 3. Traditional Environmental Knowledge 3.1 Traditional Environmental Knowlede and Climate Change 3.2 Sharing Knowledge 3.3 Endangered Languages 4. Restorative Justice and Climate Change 4.1 Climate Refugees 4.2 Restorative Justice 5. Conclusion Notes References Part V: Security 17. Climate Change and 'Security' 1. Three Modes of National Security Thinking 1.1 Sovereign State Security 1.2 Population Security 1.3 Vital Systems Security 1.4 Different Threats, Different Responses 2. Climate Change-Related Threats to Vital Systems Security 2.1 Impacts of Climate Change on Vital Systems Security 2.2 Addressing the Climate Change Threat to Vital Systems Security 3. Climate Change-Related Threats to Population Security 3.2 Impacts of Climate Change on Population Security 3.3 Addressing the Climate Change Threat to Population Security 4. Climate Change as a Threat to Sovereign State Security 4.2 Impacts of Climate Change on Sovereign State Security 4.3 Addressing the Climate Change Threat to Sovereign State Security 5. Conclusion Acknowledgements References 18. Human Security 1. Introduction 2. Human Security, Vulnerability, and Adaptation 3. The Critical and Applied Dimensions of Climate Change and Human Security 3.1 Critical Dimensions 3.2 Applied Dimensions 4. Conclusion References 19. Climate Refugees and Security: Conceptualizations, Categories, and Contestations 1. Introduction 2. Describing the Problem: Mapping Climate Migrations and Displacements 2.1 Dought Incidence 2.2 Increased Cyclone (Hurricanes and Typhoons) Intensity 2.3 Sea-Level Rise 3. Securitizing Climate Refugees 3.1 Realist Descriptions and Prescriptions 3.2 Liberal Interpretations 3.3 Examples of Liberal/Legal Arguments Regarding Environmental/Climate Refugees 3.4 Critical Perspectives of the Climate Refugee 4. Conclusions: Relocating 'Refugees' in Humanitarian Spaces? Imagined Geographies of Exclusion, Invisibility, and Violence References Part VI: Justice 20. From Efficiency to Justice: Utility as the Informational Basis of Climate Strategies, and Some Alternatives 1. Introduction 2. Efficient Climate Policy 3. Interdependence as the Strength of the Economic Approach 4. Utility as an Informational Basis for Climate Change Strategies 5. Just Keep Maximizing, but...? 6. Conclusion Notes References 21. Climate Justice 1. The Relevance of Justice 1.1 The Marginalization of Justice 1.2 Varieties of Justice 1.3 Domains of Justice 2. A Climate of Injustice 3. Ethics for the Transition 3.1 Allocation 3.2 Unavoided Impacts 3.3 Trajectory 4. Ideal Theory Notes References 22. International Justice 1. Introduction 2. Background 3. Philosophy and Climate Justice 4. Targets 5. Allocation 6. Adaptation 7. Conclusion Notes References 23. Intergenerational Justice 1. Introduction 2. Presentism 3. Utilitarianism 4. Rights-Based Ethics 5. Conclusions Notes References Part VII: Publics and Movements 24. Public Opinion and Participation 1. Public Opinion and Political Behavior 2. The Media, the 'Issue Public,' and Wider Mobilization 3. The Climate Denial Movement 4. Forming Judgments and Making Decisions about Climate Change 4.1 Schema and mental models 4.2 Values 4.3 Framing and news media portrayals 4.4 Knowledge 4.5 Interpretative Communities 5. Structuring Opinion Formation via Organized Deliberation 6. Conclusion References 25. Social Movements and Global Civil Society 1. The Origins of Social Activism Addressing Climate Change 2. Who Acts and Why? 3. The Climate Action Network: Transforming the Climate Assemblage 4. Impacts and Effectiveness Notes References 26. Translocal Climate Justice Solidarities 1. Copenhagen Convergence 2. Climate Justice and Translocal Solidarity 2.1 Climate Justice Action 2.2 The Spatiality of Struggle 2.3 Translocal Solidarities 3. The Bangladesh Krishok Federation 4. Forging Climate Justice Solidarities from Bangladesh 4.1 Occupation 4.2 Networking 5. Translocal Climate Justice Solidarities Notes References 27. Climate Denial: Emotion, Psychology, Culture, and Political Economy 1. Current Psychological and Sociological Explanations 2. Introducing the Climate Elephant 2.1 'We don't Really Want To Know' 3. The Social Organization of Denial: Weaving Emotion, Culture, and Political Economy 4. Interpretative Denial: Combating Global Warming by Increasing Carbon Dioxide 4.1 'Gas Plants Are Better Than Coal' 4.2 'Increasing Poduction of Norwegian Oil Will Help the Climate' 5. Cultural Denial 6. Conclusion Note References 28. The Role of Religions in Activism 1. History of Religious Environmentalism 2. US Religious Activism on Climate Change 3. Green Evangelicals 4. Scientific Uncertainty 5. Economic Framing 6. Justice and Ethics Framing 7. Conclusion Notes References Part VIII: Government Responses 29. Comparing State Responses 1. Introduction 2. Measuring State Performance 3. Comparing State Performance 3.1 Current Performance and Performance over Time 3.2 Aspirational Targets, Goals and Policy 4. Understanding State Performance 4.1 Regime Type 4.2 Domestic Political Institutions 4.3 'National Interests' 4.4 National Discourses 4.5 Strategies of Accumulation 4.6 Domestic Actors and the Role of Veto-Coalitions 5. Conclusions: What Makes a Leader or a Laggard? Notes References 30. Climate Change Politics in an Authoritarian State: The Ambivalent Case of China 1. Introduction 2. China's Rising Greenhouse Gas Emissions 3. Double Frames: China as Developing Economy But Economic Powerhouse 4. Capacity Building for Climate Change, Energy, and the Environment 5. China's National Climate Change Strategy 6. Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency 6.1 Renewable Energies 6.2 Energy Efficiency 7. China in the International Climate Negotiations on a Post-Kyoto Agreement 8. Understanding the Driving Forces Behind China's Climate Change Programs 8.1 Costs 8.2 Energy Security 8.3 Political Stability and Party Image 9. Environmental NGOs in an Authoritarian Regime: An Element of Pluralism? 10. Conclusion: The Climate Policy Achievements and Challenges and the Rise of Environmental Authoritarianism Notes References 31. Cities and Subnational Governments 1. Introduction 2. The Emergence of Climate Change as an Urban and Regional Issue 3. Governing the Climate in Cities and Regions 4. Rhetoric and Realities: The Politics of urban and Regional Climate Governance Conclusions Notes References 32. Issues of Scale in Climate Governance 1. Introduction 2. Mitigation 3. Adaptation 3.1 Setting Adaptation Standards 3.2 Financing Adaptation Efforts 3.2.1 State funding under the 'beneficiary pays' principle 3.2.2 National funding for adaptation 4. Conclusion Notes References 33. Decarbonizing the Welfare State 1. Contemporary Welfare Arrangements 1.1 Coming Issues 2. The Challenge of Climate Change 2.1 Expanded Risks and Distributional Conflicts 2.2 Tension among Policy Objectives 2.3 Viability of the Current Economic Model 3. Rethinking Welfare States: Decouple and Decarbonize 3.1 Green Taxes Plus Adjustments to Social Security Systems 3.2 Develop Eco-social Investment 3.3 Decarbonize Existing Social Services 3.4 Change Consumer Behavior 3.5 Utilize Synergies 4. Rethinking Welfare States: Zero Growth and Radical Transformation 4.1 Redistributing Carbon 4.2 Redistributing Work and Time 4.3 Redistributing Income and Wealth 4.4 Rethinking Population Policy 5. Conclusion References 34. Discourses of the Global South 1. Introduction 2. The Right to Development 3. Equality 4. The North Takes the Lead 5. Strategy Notes References Part IX: Policy Instruments 35. Economic Policy Instruments for Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions 1. Introduction 2. Overview of Cap‐and‐Trade and Carbon Tax 3. Experience with GHG Emissions Trading and Taxes 4. Key Policy Issues for a GHG Cap‐and‐Trade Program 4.1 Basic Program Design Elements 4.1.1 Coverage of sources 4.1.2 Cap or price trajectory 4.1.3 Banking and borrowing 4.1.4 Use of offsets/credits 4.1.5 Other cost containment measures 4.1.6 Allocation of allowances or tax revenue 4.1.7 Allocation method for free allowances 4.2 International Competitiveness and ‘Carbon Leakage’ 4.2.1 Program scope 4.2.2 Linking programs 4.2.3 Allocation methods that reduce price effects 4.2.4 Border tax adjustments 5. Conclusion Notes References 36. Policy Instruments in Practice 1. Introduction 2. Policy Instruments 2.1 Definitions and Categorizations 2.2 Different Instrument Types in Theory 3. Understanding the Selection of Policy Instruments ‘in Practice’ 3.1 Patterns of Deployment 3.2 Investigating Policy Instrument Choices 4. The Instruments of EU Climate Policy: An Interpretation 4.1 Market‐Based Instruments 4.2 Informational Devices 4.3 Voluntary Instruments 4.4 Regulation 5. Summary and Conclusions Note References 37. Carbon Trading: A Critique 1. Introduction 2. Problems in Applying Orthodox Economics to GHG Control 3. Market Power and Market Structure 4. Solving Problems by Changing ETS Design 4.1 Greenhouse Gas Accounting 4.2 Permit Allocation 5. Emissions Offsets or How to Avoid Controlling your Emissions 6. Conclusions Notes References 38. Redesigning Energy Systems 1. Introduction 2. Maturity of Energy Technologies 2.1 Stages of Maturity 2.2 Demand Reduction 2.3 Solar Heat 2.4 Cogeneration and Trigeneration with a Liquid or Gaseous Fuel 2.5 Solar Thermal Electricity 2.6 Wind Power 2.7 Geothermal Power and Heating 2.8 Nuclear Power 2.9 Storage of Renewable Energy 3. Scenarios for Redesigning the Energy System 3.1 Technological Scenarios 3.2 Reliability of Renewable Energy 3.3 Is Renewable Energy too Diffuse? 4. Strategies and Policies 4.1 Pricing is not Sufficient 4.2 Summary of Policies 5. Conclusion References Part X: Producers and Consumers 39. Corporate Responses 1. Comparing Corporate Responses: Frameworks and Metrics 1.1 Business Practices 1.2 Political Activities 1.3 Corporate Governance 2. Explaining Variation in Corporate Responses to Climate Change 2.1 Sector Differences 2.2 National Political and Social Contexts 2.3 Firm‐Level Strategic, Operational, and Organizational Characteristics 3. Corporations: Both Obstacle and Solution to the Climate Challenge? References 40. Is Green Consumption Part of the Solution? 1. Introduction: Concern about Climate Change and a New Kind of ‘Green Consuming’ 2. How Can Lower Carbon Footprint Consumption Become a Mass Phenomenon? 2.1 Condition 1: Consumers Believe Climate Change is Real and is Urgent 2.2 Condition 2: Affordable, Attractive Lower Carbon Footprint Alternatives Exist 2.2.1 Availability 2.2.2 Price 2.2.3 Quality 2.3 Condition 3: Motivation, Trust 2.3.1 Motivation 2.3.2 Trust 2.4 Condition 4: LCF Consumption as an Organizing and Recruiting Strategy 3. Promising, but Conditions for Success Are Far from Assured References Part XI: Global Governance 41. Selling Carbon: From International Climate Regime to Global Carbon Market 1. Science and Politics 2. North–South Politics 3. US Exceptionalism? 4. The Power of Business 5. Market Mechanisms in Climate Negotiations 6. The Flourishing of Carbon Markets 7. Explaining the Take‐off of Carbon Market Policies 8. Conclusions Notes References 42. Improving the Performance of the Climate Regime: Insights from Regime Analysis 1. Introduction 2. How Can We Improve the Performance of the Climate Regime? 3. Can We Manage Interplay to Achieve Synergy with Other Regimes? 4. What are the Policy Implications of this Analysis? Notes References 43. Reconceptualizing Global Governance 1. Introduction 2. Concepts Underlying Global Governance 3. Reconceptualizing Climate Governance 4. A Cosmopolitan Corollary to Climate Governance 5. Institutionalizing a Cosmopolitan Corollary 5.1 Individualism 5.2 Universality 5.3 Generality 6. Utility of a Cosmopolitan Reconceptualization 7. Conclusion Notes References 44. The Role of International Law in Global Governance 1. Introduction 2. The Contours of International Environmental Law 2.1 The Elements of International Law 2.2 What International Environmental Law Is Not 3. What International Law Can (and Probably Cannot) Do about Climate Change 3.1 The Record to Date 3.2 The Actually Possible and the Merely Plausible 3.3 The Implausible 4. What We Might Change 5. A Conclusion—Of Sorts References Part XII: Reconstruction 45. The Democratic Legitimacy of Global Governance After Copenhagen 1. Introduction 2. Beyond Realism and Cosmopolitanism: Three Paths to Democratizing Global Governance 2.1 Democratic Intergovernmentalism 2.2 Transnational Deliberative Democracy 2.3 Global Stakeholder Democracy 3. A Democratic Global Climate Governance Order after Copenhagen? 3.1 The Copenhagen Accord 3.1 Executive Multilateralism and Intergovernmentalism 3.2 Deliberative Multilateralism 3.3 Multi‐stakeholder Multilateralism 4. The Democratic Legitimacy of a New Global Climate Governance Order after Copenhagen? 5. Conclusion Notes References 46. New Actors and Mechanisms of Global Governance 1. Introduction 2. New Modes of Climate Governance 2.1 New Actor Constellations 2.2 New Transnational Mechanisms of Governance 2.3 New Multiplicities of Spheres of Authority 3. Consequences 4. Conclusion: Revitalizing Global Climate Governance References 47. Resilience 1. Introduction 2. What is Resilience? 2.1 A Brief History and Core Principles 2.2 Slow and Fast Drivers of Change 2.3 Adaptive Capacity 2.4 Transitions and Transformations 2.5 Challenging Resilience Theory 3. Applications, Policies, and Discourses 3.1 Resilient Cities 3.2 Climate Resilient Development 4. Reconciling Resilience Science and Practice References Indices Name Index Subject Index