Introduction: Politics Cannot Avoid Climate Change
It was the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP21) that initially directed my attention to the politics of our environment. The notion that 195 countries, so often at odds or even at war with each other, could possibly sit down and come to an agreement that benefits perhaps not themselves but the planet as a whole, seemed, well…absurd. Add to this the complex histories of development that have unfairly advantaged certain countries over others and the divides deepen. However, central to all the discussions, debates and politics was the overriding necessity of an agreement that could help knock the Earth from its current trajectory. It was this necessity, one which transcended political borders, that centred my attention on the global politics of environmental change.
In recent years it has been suggested that humankind has become a major geophysical force, influencing the global climate and pushing our environment towards a point from which it may not recover; leading to the idea that we have entered a new geological epoch: the Anthropocene (Steffen et al., 2007). Coined by Crutzen and Stoemer (2000), the term proposes that the Earth has transitioned out of the Holocene as humans become the dominant influence on the Earth’s environment and climate. One of the most controversial debates surrounding the concept of the Anthropocene is the date at which it started (Mackay, 2015). Suggestions include the megafauna extinctions within the last 55,000 years, the expansion of agriculture up to 8000 years ago, the start of the industrial revolution and, most recently, the Great Acceleration.
In recent years it has been suggested that humankind has become a major geophysical force, influencing the global climate and pushing our environment towards a point from which it may not recover; leading to the idea that we have entered a new geological epoch: the Anthropocene (Steffen et al., 2007). Coined by Crutzen and Stoemer (2000), the term proposes that the Earth has transitioned out of the Holocene as humans become the dominant influence on the Earth’s environment and climate. One of the most controversial debates surrounding the concept of the Anthropocene is the date at which it started (Mackay, 2015). Suggestions include the megafauna extinctions within the last 55,000 years, the expansion of agriculture up to 8000 years ago, the start of the industrial revolution and, most recently, the Great Acceleration.
It is not, however, the purpose of this blog to attempt to determine a starting point of the Anthropocene. Indeed there is doubt over whether we even could, or should, determine a starting point for the Anthropocene due to its immediate history. Rather, I aim to explore the politics of our changing environment by looking at the political reactions to this growing recognition of our damaging role within the Earth System. In the coming months, I seek to uncover the possibility and potential for politics to protect our Earth from what may be its biggest enemy, us.
Great post!
ReplyDeleteYour mention of war made me wonder if it would be valuable to consider war itself as an aspect of human decision making which influences the environment. The most obvious case of this is nuclear war, but I was thinking more about total war. The regional impact it has on the environment can be huge as in the case of Northern France in the First World War. Moreover, total war's impact on demography and its disruption of international cooperation regarding environmental protection makes it potentially significant. Do you think considering the global patterns of war and its environmental impacts would provide some useful insights?
Hi, thanks for reading! It's really interesting that you picked up on the war comment and I must admit, I hadn't really given much thought to the impact of war on the environment. Whilst the testing of nuclear weapons during the mid-20th Century is often proposed as a starting point for the Anthropocene due to the radionuclide fallout, I see this more as a technicality rather than a exhibition of humankind's true impact on the environment. I agree that war must indeed have a regional impact and your mention of the effects on international environmental protection throws up some potentially complex and significant issues. It's certainly spiked my interest and I will be doing research on the subject over the next couple of weeks - so look out for a blog post on the topic!
Delete