Abstract
Action on climate change, to meet the targets set in the 2015 Paris Agreement, requires strong political support at the national level. Whilst the political and governance challenges of climate change have been discussed at length, there is little understanding of how politicians, as influential individuals within the political system, understand or respond to climate change. This article presents findings from 14 qualitative interviews with Members of the UK Parliament, to discuss how politicians conceptualise climate change, and their deliberations on whether or how to act on the issue. First, it reviews an interdisciplinary literature from sociology, political theory and science and technology studies, to investigate how politicians navigate their work and life. Second, it presents ‘composite narratives’ to provide four different MPs’ stories. Last, it draws conclusions and implications for practice. It highlights three crucial factors: identity, or how politicians consider the climate issue in the context of their professional identity and the cultural norms of their workplace; representation, how politicians assess their role as a representative, and whether proposed political action on climate is seen as compatible with this representative function; and working practices, how day-to-day work rituals and pressures influence the aims, ambitions and engagement of politicians with climate change.
Highlights
In a recent media interview, the British artist Antony Gormley said that he despaired of politicians’ inability to act on climate change
Groups as diverse as Friends of the Earth, the OECD and the World Economic Forum have been critical of legislators’ timidity on climate change (Bawden, 2015; Brown, 2015; Camberlain, 2013; Gurría, 2008). Are they right to lay the blame at the door of Parliament, and on the action, or inaction, of politicians?
Three different approaches to this question are briefly reviewed: first, sociological investigations of Parliament, looking at questions of identity in particular; second, research from political theory examining the representative role of politicians; and third, work from science and technology studies on the day-to-day working practices of individuals within institutions
Summary
Three different approaches to this question are briefly reviewed: first, sociological investigations of Parliament, looking at questions of identity in particular; second, research from political theory examining the representative role of politicians; and third, work from science and technology studies on the day-to-day working practices of individuals within institutions. Politicians speaking and acting on climate change must construct a ‘representative claim’ to justify their proposed actions, and to show why and how they are in the interests of the represented It is not just abstract concepts of identity and representation which govern the working life of politicians. Through this process of ‘tinkering’, aims and ambitions get remoulded into ‘do-able problems’, manageable within the confines of their institutional setting Applying this analysis to Parliament, the day-to-day working life of politicians should be expected to influence their broader aims and ambitions. The aim of the research presented here, is to examine how politicians understand ‘climate change’, as a scientific, social and political phenomenon; and how this influences the way in which policies are developed and implemented
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