Climate Change Action Research Articles

The Mundane Dialectic of Enlightenment: Typification as Everyday Identity Thinking

To make Adorno’s difficult notion of “identity thinking” more amendable to sociological research, this project brings his Negative Dialectics into conversation with Schutz’s theory of typification. When revised with Adorno’s attention to political economy and the pathologies of reification, Schutz’s framework allows for an analysis of identity thinking in everyday life. Both theorists argue that categories of thought: (1) automatically subsume objects for pragmatic yet socially conditioned reasons, (2) are socially formed, transferred, and selected, and (3) suppress particularizing characteristics of objects. Their overlapping arguments are cross-fertilized to propose a critical approach to cognitive sociology that can engage in a form of ideology critique that illuminates forms of thinking that conceal social contradictions. This approach is useful for explaining the “mundane dialectic of enlightenment”: the daily reproduction of unreflective rationalization that breeds irrationality in the form of social domination and environmental harm, a contradiction which finds its ultimate expression in climate change inaction.

The value of informed agency for Torres Strait climate change

The challenge of aggregating research information for Torres Strait exists. Currently, research is often done in isolation. Now, more than ever, the aggregation of Torres Strait research information is needed to address climate change. Information aggregation leads to informed agency. Informed agency leads to best possible climate change policies and actions. Information markets can facilitate informed agency and climate change project selection and valuation. We demonstrate the benefit of employing a particular information market approach to facilitate informing agents in a real world workshop setting. The workshop considers how best to address the Torres Strait climate change problem. Our a priori theoretical model motivates a specific hypothesis on the functional form of information uptake by agents (workshop participants). Analysis of collected data supports our hypothesis. The information market implies a valuation of climate change project information. It is estimated to be as valuable as a typical flood insurance premium.

Social Tipping Processes for Sustainability: An Analytical Framework

Societal transformations are necessary to address critical global challenges, such as mitigation of anthropogenic climate change and reaching UN sustainable development goals. Recently, social tipping processes have received increased attention, as they present a form of social change whereby a small change can shift a sensitive social system into a qualitatively different state due to strongly self-amplifying (mathematically positive) feedback mechanisms. Social tipping processes have been suggested as key drivers of sustainability transitions emerging in the fields of technological and energy systems, political mobilization, financial markets and sociocultural norms and behaviors. Drawing from expert elicitation and comprehensive literature review, we develop a framework to identify and characterize social tipping processes critical to facilitating rapid social transformations. We find that social tipping processes are distinguishable from those of already more widely studied climate and ecological tipping dynamics. In particular, we identify human agency, social-institutional network structures, different spatial and temporal scales and increased complexity as key distinctive features underlying social tipping processes. Building on these characteristics, we propose a formal definition for social tipping processes and filtering criteria for those processes that could be decisive for future trajectories to global sustainability in the Anthropocene. We illustrate this definition with the European political system as an example of potential social tipping processes, highlighting the potential role of the FridaysForFuture movement. Accordingly, this analytical framework for social tipping processes can be utilized to illuminate mechanisms for necessary transformative climate change mitigation policies and actions.

Judging for Utopia: Climate Change and Judicial Action

When we speak of judges who judge for Utopia, we speak about judges today who pursue a better world through their judging. In this contribution, it is argued that a judiciary that is actively engaged in making the world a better place is good for society, also from a legal point of view. Since the most urgent call for utopian law and utopian judging today is on the issue of climate change, litigation in this field forms the main case for discussion. Controversial issues of utopian judging arise when there is disagreement in society over the direction the judiciary is taking, or when the judiciary is taking a separate way from the legislator or the executive power. In such situations, utopian judges may come under criticism for judicial activism or excessive judicial review. It is submitted here that disagreements and differences are, however, not something that should be avoided; they drive the system forward in the exercise of checks and balances. Climate change litigation is an example where there is a need for this today.

Biodiversity of Vegetation and Flora in Tropical Africa

African ecosystems comprise a wealthy repository of biodiversity with a high proportion of native and endemic plant species, which makes them biologically unique and providers of a wide range of ecosystem services. A large part of African populations, in both rural and urban areas, depends on plants for their survival and welfare, but many ecosystems are being degraded, mostly due to the growing impacts of climate change and other anthropogenic actions and environmental problems. Loss of habitat and biodiversity affects livelihoods, water supply and food security, and reduces the resilience of ecosystems in the African continent. Knowledge of the huge African plant and ecosystem diversity, and on the structure, composition and processes involved in vegetation dynamics, is crucial to promote their sustainable use and to preserve one of the most understudied regions in the world. This Special Issue aimed to gather contributions that update and improve such knowledge.

Correction to: The strength of green ties: Massachusetts cranberry grower social networks and effects on climate change attitudes and action

The original article has been corrected. Unfortunately the name of the second author was misspelled. This has been corrected.

Role of high technology exports for energy efficiency: Empirical evidence in the context of Gulf Cooperation Council countries

This article explores the impacts of high technology exports on energy consumption, energy intensity, and carbon intensity for a panel of six GCC economies covering a period of 1990 to 2017. For detailed empirical analysis, we employ panel techniques to explore the linkages between high technology exports and energy efficiency in GCC countries. The empirical results demonstrate that high technology exports help to reduce overall energy demand with −0.154% and energy intensity with −0.254% in GCC countries. Notably, we observe that effects on technology exports on carbon intensity are significantly lower in magnitude with −0.010%. Notably, the long empirics are in consistent with achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG's) of GCC countries (cleaner and affordable energy, environmental awareness, climate change action, etc.). The findings suggest that new and innovative energy conservation policies should be introduced to promote energy efficient equipment’s and technologies for cleaner and greener growth.

Litigating climate change through international law: Obligations strategy and rights strategy

AbstractLitigation has presented itself as a serious means to vindicate normative commitments about climate change by forcing governments to review their policy priorities. Today, the use of such litigation is not limited to the domestic arena. International law now provides the new principal avenue for such litigation. Two litigation strategies stand out: obligations strategy and rights strategy. Obligations strategy consists of bestowing an erga omnes character to existing obligations regarding the protection of the global environment, thereby providing standing for a non-injured party before international courts. Rights strategy, on the other hand, significantly increases in practice. It consists in the invocation, before national and international courts, of remedies for environmental damages through the legal categories of human rights law.This article sheds light on the potential and limits of these litigation strategies in international law. The argument builds on the specific evolution in the legal architecture of international obligations under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The current structure of the UNFCCC now makes it substantially impossible to bring a claim against individual states regarding their specific measures against climate change. The article, by referring to the history of drafting which produced the specific structure, questions the ability of these litigation strategies to remedy the lack of international consensus and to accommodate the technical intricacy of how to turn normative commitments into actual action for climate change.

Healthy settings in an airport planning context: Lessons from the Sydney experience

Abstract Issue Airports provide infrastructure for an industry situated between economic development and environmental detriment. In Western Sydney, a new international airport is being built in an area of sustained population growth. To proactively address the transformation created by the airport, a research hub in South Western Sydney began in 2015 to prepare a health promotion and protection agenda surrounding the airport. Description The concept of an airport that proactively addresses social determinants of health (equity) was introduced, and has been met with in-principle positive support from aviation-related stakeholders. However, follow through with demonstrated commitment has been limited. An exploration of the policy domain of the Western Sydney airport region was undertaken to identify the organisations involved and the control they exert over key determinants of health (equity) and their interrelationship. The intent was to gauge urban health professionals' ability to influence change within the airport planning and development process. Results The analysis shows that power within airport planning is spread widely vertically and horizontally. Despite having a centralised planning organisation, decision making authority is dispersed across multiple levels of public and private governance within the wider airport region. Organisations are bound by (or defer to) higher level regulatory guidelines or legislation for technical aspects of airport planning. Those with more flexible influence lack incentive to engage with broader public health activities. Lessons Lobbying for better public health outcomes has bypassed the complex planning system within airport development settings. Opportunities exist to influence planning through formal and non-formal structures for specific “wins”. However, thinking outside a health box may provide the biggest opportunity for change yet, as shown by the successful legal blocking of the Heathrow runway expansion by climate change activists. Key messages Airports as major urban infrastructure sit under complex organisational structures both in their development and management. Public health responses need to be more targeted and innovative in advocacy and engagement.

Sharing your voice – healthy action for climate change

Sharing your voice – healthy action for climate change

Financial System Stability, the Timing of Climate Change Action and the Federal Reserve

Abstract Timely and effective climate action is a precondition for the stability of the global financial system and for long-term, inclusive prosperity. Because the Federal Reserve and other central banks share responsibility with legislative and regulatory authorities and other experts for maintaining financial system stability, the Fed also shares responsibility for effective climate action. For climate action to be effective in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and limiting global warming, it must be widespread, it must be substantive, and it must come sooner rather than later. The new low-interest rate monetary policy environment favors sustainable long-term, but also high-risk, investments. Market participants need timely guidance and support from regulatory and supervisory authorities, including the Federal Reserve, in order to expedite global fund allocations to low-carbon assets.

Performance determinants show European cities are delivering on climate mitigation

Cities are crucial climate change actors, developing largely voluntary action plans and emission reduction targets. There is limited evidence, however, of their impact through transnational climate initiatives and little empirical support linking mitigation strategies and emissions reductions. Here, we show that 60% of more than 1,000 EU Covenant of Mayors’ cities are on track to achieve their 2020 emission reduction targets. Assessments of cities’ mitigation outcomes and the determinants of performance show that on-track cities tend to have less-ambitious targets and higher baseline emissions and are in countries with more-ambitious national climate policies and greater realized emissions reductions than cities that are not on track. Automated textual analysis and a regression model find city emissions reduction is influenced by plan-level, city-level and country-level characteristics. Greater emissions reductions are associated with plans targeting energy efficiency. These results of city-level achievement provide empirical support for the theorized subnational actors’ contribution to global climate mitigation. Cities have an important role in climate mitigation. Textual analysis techniques and regression modelling show the progress made by over 1,000 cities reporting in the European Covenant of Mayors initiative, active in climate action at the urban level.

Multiple criteria analysis of citizens’ information and trust in climate change actions

In the past decades, the stakeholders, due to the evident impacts of climate change, were more involved in strategic actions and informing the public opinion on climate change. However, in order to achieve ongoing and substantial public participation in climate change actions undertaken by the stakeholders, the public will need to be fully informed about the causes and effects of climate change so that a mutual relationship of trust may be established. The present study aims to investigate public perceptions of the information citizens obtain from information sources, stakeholders' share of responsibility for climate change and citizens’ degree of trust in the stakeholders which affects public participation in climate change actions. The study was conducted in Greece, where 1536 questionnaires were collected from January 2014 to June 2015. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive and nonparametric statistics, as well as the MUSA method (MUlticriteria Satisfaction Analysis). The study findings indicated that the citizens do not trust adequately information sources regarding climate change and, at the same time, they perceive that the dissemination of information on climate change is limited and consider that the media which use scientific knowledge provide more objective information. Moreover, Greek citizens consider that industries, oil companies and governments contribute mostly to climate change and they were willing to participate in climate change actions carried out mainly by scientists, environmental groups, citizen groups and non-governmental organizations.

The strength of green ties: Massachusetts cranberry grower social networks and effects on climate change attitudes and action.

The cranberry, a commodity of social, cultural, and economic importance to New England, is under threat due to climatic change in this region of the United States. Yet, previous research reveals that cranberry growers have mixed attitudes about the anthropogenic roots of climate change, with many being skeptical. Building on the researchers’ analysis of the personal and ecological conditions that affect climate change attitudes among cranberry growers, this paper examines the effect that key actors in the growers’ social networks have on those attitudes. Through statistical analysis of survey data and content analysis of two important cranberry newsletters, the paper finds that cranberry growers’ perceived importance of two key cranberry growing institutions, the “sociopolitically focused” Cape Cod Cranberry Growers’ Association and the “technically focused” University of Massachusetts Cranberry Station, as well as connections to other cranberry growers, is associated in nuanced ways with growers’ climate change attitudes. Drawing on the sociological theory of “social capital,” the paper examines how these social ties to key actors/institutions may result in greater threat perception or worry about climate change. It then considers how “green ties,” if harnessed and supported by these important actors in the cranberry grower network, might significantly mitigate climate change in the future.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1007/s10584-020-02808-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Beyond choice architecture: a building code for structuring climate risk management decisions

AbstractAlthough the need for urgent climate change action is clear, insights about how to make better climate risk management decisions are limited. While significant attention from behavioral researchers has focused on choice architecture, we argue that many of the contexts for addressing climate risks require increased attention to the needs of a deliberative and dynamic choice environment. A key facet of this kind of decision is the need for decision-makers and stakeholders to identify and balance conflicting economic, social and environmental objectives. This recognition of difficult, context-specific trade-offs highlights the need for structuring the decision-making process so that objectives are clearly articulated and prioritized. Equally, policy analyses and deliberations must effectively link priorities with climate risk management options. This restructuring of decision-making about climate change calls for more than a nudge. Scientific and technical efforts must be redirected to help stakeholders and decision-makers better understand the diverse implications of climate change management alternatives and to become better equipped to take actions commensurate with the urgency of the problem.

Realising the potential of cultural heritage to achieve climate change actions in the Netherlands

Climate change impacts on diverse cultural heritage is gaining scholarly and policy attention, yet little research has been conducted on how can diverse cultural heritage inform decisionmakers and policymakers in achieving climate change actions (i.e., climate change adaptation and mitigation). For this study, we conducted semi-structured interviews with Dutch cultural heritage and environmental or climate change experts (n = 52) and participant observations across the Netherlands to explore the importance of cultural heritage benefits and their relation to climate change actions. We also explored the perceptions of cultural heritage management over time, including the influence of climate policy on heritage practice in the Netherlands. Our findings show that experts perceived a multiplicity of heritage benefits as important in supporting and informing present and future climate change actions. The most salient benefits were informational benefits where diverse cultural heritage is perceived as an important source of knowledge about past societal, economic and environmental developments and changes. Further, heritage management was perceived as constantly changing over time, reflecting the transformative nature of diverse heritage types. Experts agreed that climate policy has already influenced cultural heritage practice in the Netherlands. Lastly, the interrelationships between heritage benefits and management were identified and characterised. This study informs both cultural heritage and climate change research agendas and helps leverage diverse cultural heritage into climate change adaptation and mitigation policies.

Science Education for Sustainability: Strengthening Children’s Science Engagement through Climate Change Learning and Action

Scientists and sustainability scholars continue to make urgent calls for rapid societal transformation to sustainability. Science education is a key venue for this transformation. In this manuscript, we argue that by positioning children as critical actors for sustainability in science education contexts, they may begin to reimagine what science means to them and to society. This multi-site, mixed-methods study examined how children’s climate change learning and action influenced their science engagement along cognitive, affective, and behavioral dimensions. For fifteen weeks, ten- to twelve-year-olds participated in an after-school program that combined on-site interactive educational activities (e.g., greenhouse gas tag) with off-site digital photography (i.e., photovoice process), and culminated in youth-led climate action in family and community settings. Participants were 55 children (M = 11.1 years), the majority from groups underrepresented in science (52.7% girls; 43.6% youth of color; 61.8% low-income). Combined survey and focus group analyses showed that, after the program, science became more relevant to children’s lives, and their attitudes towards science (i.e., in school, careers, and in society) improved significantly. Children explained that understanding the scientific and social dimensions of climate change expanded their views of science: Who does it, how, and why—that it is more than scientists inside laboratories. Perhaps most notably, the urgency of climate change solutions made science more interesting and important to children, and many reported greater confidence, participation, and achievement in school science. The vast majority of the children (88.5%) reported that the program helped them to like science more, and following the program, more than half (52.7%) aspired to a STEM career. Lastly, more than a third (37%) reported improved grades in school science, which many attributed to their program participation. Towards strengthening children’s science engagement, the importance of climate change learning and action—particularly place-based, participatory, and action-focused pedagogies—are discussed.

People in transitions: Energy citizenship, prosumerism and social movements in Europe

Active energy citizens are leading energy transitions, co-producing new cultures, practices and structures of production and consumption. This article aims to understand if prosumerism – the collective participation of prosumers in energy projects with social, economic and environmental benefits to society – can be referred to as a social movement. The article draws on a review of Social Movements Theory and applies thematic analysis to characterize 46 prosumer initiatives in Europe. The collective identities, socio-political opponents, knowledge-making activities, collective learning, and collective action aspects of these prosumers are described. The results show that prosumer initiatives converge towards a transformative social movement. This movement upholds decentralized renewable energy production and consumption, and presents itself as a socially inclusive, transparent and participatory energy model, replicable across the globe, in what can be described as a collective action towards a decentralized democratic energy model. The discussion highlights relationships between prosumerism and framings such as energy justice (including energy poverty and gender issues), energy democracy, climate change action and anti-nuclear movements, to reach a conclusion considering the relevance of calling prosumerism a social movement, while opening up some avenues for future research.

Youth Engagement in Climate Change Action: Case Study on Indigenous Youth at COP24

While there are many studies about the environmental impacts of climate change in the Canadian north, the role of Indigenous youth in climate governance has been a lesser focus of inquiry. A popularized assumption in some literature is that youth have little to contribute to discussions on climate change and other aspects of land and resource management; such downplay of youth expertise and engagement may be contributing to climate anxiety (e.g., feelings of hopelessness), particularly in remote communities. Creating opportunities for youth to have a voice in global forums such as the United Nations Conference of Parties (COP24) on Climate Change may offset such anxiety. Building on previous research related to climate action, and the well-being of Indigenous youth, this paper shares the outcomes of research with Indigenous youth (along with family and teachers) from the Mackenzie River Basin who attended COP24 to determine the value of their experience. Key questions guiding these interviews included: How did youth impact others? and How did youth benefit from the experience? Key insights related to the value of a global experience; multiple youth presentations at COP24 were heard by hundreds of people who sought to learn more from youth about their experience of climate change. Additional insights were gathered about the importance of family and community (i.e., webs of support); social networks were seen as key to the success of youth who participated in the event and contributed to youth learning and leadership development.

The relationship between energy consumption, CO2 emissions, and economic growth in Turkey: evidence from Fourier approximation.

Given that Turkey has recently committed itself for the first time to reducing its CO2 emissions in the interest of sustainable growth in not only Turkey but also the world as a whole, this paper examines the relationship between energy consumption, CO2 emissions, and economic growth in Turkey for the period 1960-2014. In view of the different findings concerning causality and the character of the relationships between these variables revealed in our review of past studies (in most cases using quite different methods), this paper utilizes several different but related methodological approaches for identifying causal relationships. These include both the Toda and Yamamoto (1995) approach, the Fourier Toda-Yamamoto for Cumulative Frequency approach developed by Nazlioglu et al. (2016), vector error correction model (VECM) methodology, and the asymmetric Granger causality test proposed by Hatemi-J (Empir Econ 43:447-456, Hatemi-j 2012). Our results show that, when we apply the popular Toda-Yamamoto model, causality in these relationships is not confirmed even among any of the relevant variables in Turkey. Yet, when the Fourier Toda-Yamamoto tests for cumulative frequency are employed, we find unidirectional causality running from GDP per capita to emissions of CO2 per capita. Moreover, when we utilize the VECM methodology, the results show that long-run causality exists from GDP per capita and energy to CO2 emissions. When we apply the asymmetric causality tests, the results provide even stronger evidence for a unidirectional causal relationship from GDP per capita to CO2 emissions. As a result, the latter sets of results, based on more realistic conditions, suggest very strongly that, if Turkey is to meet the objectives of its ambitious Climate Change Action Plan commitment to the United Nations to reduce its CO2 per capita emissions relative to its past trends by up to 21% over the coming 2021-2030 decade, it is going to get very serious about the best way to do this as soon as possible.