Abstract
This paper starts from the observation that development projects that create various forms of environmental injustice in Europe are an integral part of the process of biospheric expulsions, that is of pushing out groups from adequate land, water or air, as described by Saskia Sassen (2014). Apart from the environmental, socio-economic and health-impacts of ecologically destructive projects, there is an added dimension of concern that has been less obvious in the past, but tends to become increasingly pronounced in a warming world. Is it possible that accumulating environmental inequalities and forms of injustice can create new and “unnatural” vulnerabilities to the projected climate change impacts? The first question that we tackle is whether environmental justice conflicts in Europe tend to take place disproportionately in climate hotspot areas, which are geographic spaces with above-average social sensitivity, potential vulnerability, potential social impact, potential environmental impacts or response capacity (ESPON, 2011). The second question concerns the distribution of different characteristics of projects and of their associated conflicts in climate hotspot vs. non-hotspot areas. The final goal is to establish, at a preliminary level, the emergence of a climate edge in Europe, a spatial configuration in which vulnerability to climate change impacts is shaped by processes of biospheric expulsion, as postulated at a general level by Sassen. For the analysis, the most current data on environmental justice conflicts (444) from the Environmental Justice Atlas and ESPON climate impact projections, mapped on the Climate Adapt platform, are used. The expected result is to provide a preliminary description of the postulated climate edge.
Highlights
IntroductionThe overall aim of this paper is to establish the climate edge as an empirically grounded concept to explore current processes of vulnerability creation to the expected impacts of climate change in Europe
The Merriam Webster dictionary defines the edge as “a line or line segment that is the intersection of two plane faces”, while the Free Dictionary adds the meaning of “the point at which something is likely to begin”.The overall aim of this paper is to establish the climate edge as an empirically grounded concept to explore current processes of vulnerability creation to the expected impacts of climate change in Europe
The climate edge integrates existing notions of climate injustice – whereby class, race, ethnic and gender dimensions shape the distribution of climate risks – but reconstructs them through an explanation of how vulnerability emerges under the current expansion of a particular kind of political economy, that of resource-intensive development projects
Summary
The overall aim of this paper is to establish the climate edge as an empirically grounded concept to explore current processes of vulnerability creation to the expected impacts of climate change in Europe. The climate edge integrates existing notions of climate injustice – whereby class, race, ethnic and gender dimensions shape the distribution of climate risks – but reconstructs them through an explanation of how vulnerability emerges under the current expansion of a particular kind of political economy, that of resource-intensive development projects. Development projects refer to opencast coal mines, shale gas exploration and extraction, infrastructure expansion projects, tourism infrastructure, urban conflicts and similar interventions that create environmentally unequal outcomes. Noteworthy cases are the shale gas development proposals in the UK or Poland (Lis and Stankiewicz, 2017; Nyberg, Wright and Kirk, 2018) or the continued expansion of open cast mines in Germany (Brock and Dunlap, 2018)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
