Roundtable on the Politics of Climate Governance

Session Submission Type: Roundtable

Session Description

A growing number of political scientists are investigating questions around climate change, but this remains a relatively understudied topic within the discipline, despite its global importance. Global, national, and local deficiencies in curbing carbon emissions and in developing equitable and effective adaptation strategies are ultimately governance failures rooted in various forms of political conflict. Making progress on climate thus requires better understanding of the drivers of political interests, the functioning of political institutions, and the behaviors of key actors. In this roundtable, we discuss the recent political science literature on climate change and directions for future research. The roundtable features a set of scholars who have been working on research related to public opinion about climate change, environmental policy, natural resource management, climate justice, and international relations with respect to climate governance.

In addition to bringing together scholars for whom climate research has been a central part of their research agenda, we seek to include scholars who are interested in pursuing this topic in the coming years. We anticipate that this important topic will become increasingly central to the discipline. Through the roundtable we seek to facilitate a discussion regarding how to promote collaboration and coordination among a growing network of researchers, building on the rich body of existing and ongoing work that scholars have developed over the past several decades. We also investigate the possibility of closer collaboration between organizations implementing climate adaptation and mitigation programs and researchers who are interested in building an evidence-base around which of these strategies are effective or not. The roundtable thus provides an opportunity for a stock-taking of the role of political science research in contributing to theoretical and policy debates around climate change to date, as well as prospects for future research directions that can inform policymaking in the decades to come.

The roundtable is hosted by the Evidence in Governance and Politics (EGAP) Climate Change Governance Steering Committee. The Climate Change Governance research area within EGAP focuses on policy responses to climate change and addressing inequalities across people and communities who bear the brunt of its negative impacts. This covers research on inclusive resource governance and strategies to address climate-related vulnerabilities and promote resilience.

Sub Unit

• Division 39: Science, Technology, and Environmental Politics

Chair

• Melina Raquel Platas Izama NYU Abu Dhabi

Presenters

• Michael Aklin University of Pittsburgh

• Amanda Kennard Stanford University

• Evan S. Lieberman Massachusetts Institute of Technology

• Megan Mullin University of California, Los Angeles

• Dustin Halliday Tingley Harvard University