External: Governing Temperature, Governing the World: From the Earth Summit to the Earth Commission

At the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro the world’s nations agreed a goal of seeking to avoid dangerous climatic change by stabilizing greenhouse gas concentrations at a level that would allow eco-systems to adapt, food supplies to be secured, and economic development be sustained. Just over 30 years later, the Earth Commission – an international team of natural and social scientists hosted by Future Earth – called for a “no significant harm” and “just” climate target of less than 1 °C of warming with respect to “pre-industrial” conditions. This talk traces the reductionist moves over this 30-year period that have regrettably made the control of global temperature synonymous with securing “Earth justice”. Retrieving modes from the 1970s, or even earlier, of thinking about climate and society relations suggests alternative and less reductive pathways for framing climate governance.

The lecture will be followed by a panel discussion with Sabine Höhler, Sam Robinson, Richard Staley, Sverker Sörlin (Chair) and Paul Warde.

The lecture and panel discussion are organized within the framework of the SCAS CUSP Series.