As Cop28 draws near, I’m preparing with different climate justice organisations and coalitions. But, as a historian, I can’t help but feel slightly out of place.
When I attend climate policy events it’s rare to meet another humanist. Most of the experts are either scientists or at the very least studied the social sciences.
This divide between the sciences and humanities must be challenged in climate advocacy spaces. We need more humanists in climate spaces because we have so much to contribute to the pursuit of a just and sustainable world.
The lack of humanists in climate activism is because of prevailing disciplinary silos between science and the humanities.
Climate change is woven into our educational systems around the world almost entirely via science, technology, engineering, and maths (Stem) subjects.
This is a missed opportunity to integrate climate education through a multi-disciplinary approach that fully engages all students with various strengths.
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As a student of history and literature, my education is often seen as frivolous in climate advocacy spaces.
However, my humanities background informs my work on social issues and the climate crisis.
As I study modern human history, it’s obvious to me that we’re experiencing the climate crisis because our societies value profit over people and the planet.
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Systems like colonialism and capitalism, that exploit workers, extract fossil fuel at the expense of ecosystems.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change only recently acknowledged the role of colonialism in the climate crisis, a relationship some historians and Indigenous scholars have known for years.
Without proper forethought, new green technology can easily reinforce the inequality that brought us here in the first place. And in some cases it already has.
For example, carbon credits justify the dispossession of indigenous peoples’ land and devastating mining practices destroy communities in the Democratic Republic of Congo for minerals used in green technology.
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Humanists remind us that these recent developments are part of a greater legacy of inequity.
The amazing innovations that scientists and engineries are creating in fields like green technologies and renewable resources are just one part of the equation.
We must also transform how we collectively think, eat, value and live.
For scientists to create the technology of the future we must first decide what kind of future we want this technology to be in service of.
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Humanists can contribute to expanding our collective imagination to create that future.
Humanities can link science with the multidimensional nature of social challenges and culture.
This will inform green technology implementation, international policy, and campaign strategies geared towards sustainability and equity.
Some humanists have already begun this important path through the study of environmental humanities and related fields.
Scholars like Karl Jacoby, Leah Aronowsky, Elizabeth Mary DeLoughrey, and Amanda J. Baugh are doing critical work in this field.
They investigate how the environment is understood and constructed in relation to people, and how these understandings shape our actions and ideas.
Indigenous scholars, like Emily Johnson, Anne Spice, and Robin Wall Kimmerer have a long history of linking environmental studies and cultural studies.
They highlight pluriversal, instead of universal, approaches to just and sustainable communities.
Unfortunately, the larger field of environmental humanities is only recently emerging and is underfunded and overwhelmingly White.
We desperately need diverse academics and centers dedicated to making these connections and sharing that scholarship with the public.
Well-resourced climate scientists and leaders must also invite environmental humanities scholars in as experts and leverage their power to create multi-disciplinary policy approaches.
We all come from people who have lived on this Earth for millennia, so we all have unique ecological histories, cultures, and spirituality to rediscover.
Kwolanne Felix is a climate and gender equity advocate and works at the New York University State Energy and Environmental Impact Center.
The post We need more humanists in climate campaigning appeared first on Climate Home News.
Reports from the International Monetary Fund and the International Energy Agency warn of possible global recession as the U.S. enacts a blockade at the Strait of Hormuz.
As the Iran war nears its seventh week, two of the world’s leading finance and energy institutions are forecasting a bleak future for the global economy if the conflict continues much longer.
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The Turkish government has announced the dates and venues for the COP31 leaders’ summit and pre-COP meetings, and appointed a Turkish waste campaigner and Australian cattle farmer as climate “champions”.
In an open letter, published by the UN climate body on Tuesday, the Turkish environment minister and COP31 President-Designate Murat Kurum said the COP31 World Leaders’ Summit, at which dozens of heads of government are expected, will take place in Antalya, on Türkiye’s south coast, on November 11 and 12.
Previous leaders’ summits have taken place on the first two days of the COP negotiations or, at last year’s conference in Belém, before the start. But this year’s gathering will take place on the third and fourth day (Wednesday and Thursday) of the November 9-20 talks. Kurum said the summit “will be a key moment in generating political momentum and visibility for COP31”.
Last November, when Türkiye was chosen as host of the annual UN climate summit, Kurum said that, while the negotiations would be in the resort city of Antalya, the leaders’ summit would take place in the country’s largest city Istanbul. No explanation for the change of decision was given in Kurum’s letter.
Pacific pre-COP
Every COP conference is preceded by a smaller pre-COP gathering, attended by government climate negotiators. Because of a deal struck with Australia, which gave up its bid to physically host the summit in exchange for leading the COP31 discussions, this year’s pre-COP will take place on the Pacific island of Fiji, with a “leaders’ event” a 2.5-hour flight north in Tuvalu.
Kurum’s letter said both events would take place between October 5-8 and “will contribute to reflecting diverse perspectives in an inclusive manner”.
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The letter confirms that Australia’s climate and energy minister, Chris Bowen, will be given the title of “President of Negotiations” and “will have exclusive authority in leading the COP31 Negotiations, in consultation with Türkiye”.
“I have complete faith in his work,” said Kurum, adding that the two will send out a joint letter “in the coming weeks” which outlines their priorities regarding the negotiations.
The COP negotiations will be discussed at the annual Petersberg Climate Dialogue in Berlin on April 21 and 22. German State Secretary Jochen Flasbarth recently announced plans to travel to Australia and meet with Bowen to discuss the talks.
COP31 champions
In his letter, Kurum announced that Samed Ağırbaş, president of Türkiye’s Zero Waste Foundation, which was set up by the country’s First Lady, has been appointed as the COP31 Climate High-Level Champion, tasked with working with business, cities and regions and civil society to promote climate action.
Sally Higgins, a young Australian cattle farmer and sustainability consultant who has also carried out research on land-use change, has been appointed as Youth Climate Champion. Kurum said she “is a passionate advocate for climate change and elevating the voices of young people”.
Turkish officials Fatma Varank, Halil Hasar and Mehmet Ali Kahraman have been appointed as COP31 CEO, Chief Climate Diplomacy Officer and Director of the COP31 Presidency Office respectively. Deputy environment ministers Ömer Bulut and Burak Demiralp will lead on construction and infrastructure, and operational and logistical processes.
Kurum said Türkiye’s Presidency would continue to use the Troika approach – a term coined two years ago under Azerbaijan’s COP29 Presidency, which worked with the previous Emirati COP28 and subsequent Brazilian COP30 hosts.
Kurum said the Troika approach offers “stability and predictability by connecting past, current and future presidencies” and that “in this regard” Türkiye and Australia would work “in close cooperation with Azerbaijan and Brazil”. This appears to overlook the 2027 COP32 host – Ethiopia.
The post Türkiye sets COP31 dates and appoints Australian cattle farmer as youth champion appeared first on Climate Home News.
Türkiye sets COP31 dates and appoints Australian cattle farmer as youth champion
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