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- Convenors:
-
Agathe Mora
(University of Sussex)
Jon Schubert (University of Basel)
Send message to Convenors
- Formats:
- Panel
- Mode:
- Face-to-face
- Sessions:
- Thursday 25 July, -, -
Time zone: Europe/Madrid
Short Abstract:
What climate futures are envisioned by legal and regulatory efforts? How could anthropological analysis of these processes contribute to liberatory politics and climate justice? This panel looks at the climate futures assembled and enacted through legislation, regulation, and litigation.
Long Abstract:
The United Nations General Assembly’s adoption, in 2022, of the ‘right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment’ as a new, universal human right, in principle paves the way for new forms of ‘doing’ climate futures through law. The exponential rise of climate litigation in the last few years likewise point to the increasing transposition of climate action to legal arenas. Such developments are indicative of broader trends in the relation between (international) law and the environment, which assembles a broad array of actors beyond nation-states.
Yet legal and regulatory frameworks, including technical and procedural standards, often stand at odds with the lived realities of the climate crisis across the globe. Efforts at climate legislation and regulation often provoke furious backlash, from deregulation and limitations on the role of courts to political and media criticism. Similarly, translating legal principles and decisions back into climate action is far from straightforward.
What is the role of a critical, engaged anthropology, beyond simply diagnosing this disconnect? If law is a means of producing anticipatory knowledge, what kinds of climate futures are envisioned by efforts to corral law and regulations to their realisation? And how could anthropological analysis of these processes contribute to liberatory politics and climate justice? To address these broader questions, we invite paper submissions dealing with the various ways in which climate futures are envisioned, assembled, and enacted through legislation, regulation, and litigation.
Accepted papers:
Session 1 Thursday 25 July, 2024, -Erin Fitz-Henry (University of Melbourne)
Paper short abstract:
This presentation considers the challenges of cultivating and advancing broad-based support for climate reparations in political contexts currently marked by a brutal re-assertion of settler-colonial prerogatives and a sustained erasure of histories of colonial violence.
Paper long abstract:
Despite a flourishing of recent demands for reparations for European colonialism, trans-Atlantic slavery, and Indigenous genocide in many different national contexts and at many different scales (Edoh, 2021; Schirrer, 2020; Scott Lewis, 2021; Perry, 2022), demands for global climate reparations at the annual UNFCCC COP meetings have gone largely unheeded by negotiators from the Global North (Taiwo, 2020). Despite the agreement at COP28, the way forward for climate reparations from the Global North feels murkier than ever in the wake of three global developments: 1) the Israeli assault on Gaza which has laid bare the neo-colonial commitments that remain firmly embedded in the architecture of global governance; 2) the intensifying fascism across much of the Global North that inverts the histories of colonizer and colonized to stoke fears among beleaguered white communities of demographic collapse and loss of their ‘homelands' (Taylor, 2019); and 3) sustained efforts to erase histories of white supremacy from educational textbooks. Drawing on interviews with key climate justice organizers working broadly within reparative frameworks for ‘climate coloniality’ (Sultana, 2021) in the settler-colonies of the United States and Australia, this presentation considers the social and political difficulties of sustaining a reparative ethics in relation to what Ghassan Hage has called the ‘colonial-ecological’ crisis (Hage, 2016). Specifically, it considers the challenges of advancing broad-based support for climate reparations in political contexts currently marked by a brutal re-assertion of settler-colonial prerogatives, a re-signifying of the meanings of colonizer and colonized, and a sustained erasure of histories of colonial violence.
Noah Walker-Crawford (London School of Economics)
Paper short abstract:
Major energy companies are no longer denying climate change, but are rejecting responsibility for its impacts in their defences against climate justice lawsuits. Large polluters try to evade legal responsibility by shifting blame to broader economic forces and invalidating scientific evidence.
Paper long abstract:
In recent litigation against major greenhouse gas emitters over their contribution to climate change, fossil fuel companies are no longer denying that human activities are causing global warming. Rather, they make political arguments about the responsibility of society – rather than individual polluters – for causing global warming. In addition, they question the validity of climate science for establishing legal responsibility. This paper analyzes corporate defendants’ evidentiary arguments in four climate change lawsuits. I examine the defendants’ efforts to obfuscate the role of individual emitters, invalidate scientific proof and attack researchers’ credibility. Plaintiffs’ and defendants’ legal narratives and factual claims are linked to broader concerns about who should take responsibility for climate change. Like all knowledge, climate science is inherently value-imbued, emerging in relation to policymakers’ demands, public concerns and researchers’ academic interests. While climate science on its own does not provide all the answers, it serves as a crucial tool for addressing legal and political questions about responsibility and justice in a warming world.
Kiri Santer (University of Bern)
Paper short abstract:
What does the law need to know to decarbonize the steel and aluminium sectors in the EU? This paper examines how industrial sector stakeholders deal with the EU’s new Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism decarbonization imperative. It highlights the interdependencies impeding decarbonized futures.
Paper long abstract:
Multi-sited and multi-level ethnographies are needed to highlight the interdependencies between states, energy systems, traders and industrial producers which make decarbonization so difficult. Focusing ethnographically on the multi-sited implementation of the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), a key element of the EU’s Green Deal legislative package, this paper makes the case for a holistic anthropology of the study of climate regulation for decarbonization. CBAM has a dual aim of affecting both domestic emissions by setting an effective price on carbon for hard to abate European industries under the Emissions Trading System (ETS) and to affect change beyond the borders of the EU by imposing a carbon tax on imports of these same sectors to Europe. CBAM is a pioneering policy of its kind and is set to shape the future of carbon pricing globally. In the early stages of its implementation many things remain unclear: from the distributive impacts of CBAM to the methodology to be used for carbon accounting. CBAM is thus raising concerns and speculation across affected industrial sectors. This paper examines how European industrialists of the steel and aluminum sector, commodity traders and unions deal with CBAM’s decarbonization imperative. Outlining their uncertainties, fears and challenges, it asks what does the ‘law’ need to know to deliver decarbonization at a later stage? Beyond tracing the gap between climate regulations and their implementation, I argue that anthropology can provide important insights into energy futures and investment trends, by examining challenges in the present.
Hannah Tubman (University of Edinburgh)
Paper short abstract:
In a class-action lawsuit, Kabwe, Zambia is strategically abjected by lawyers to create visibility of harm in hopes of environmental justice. This paper explores the tensions between the strategy of abjection and the experience of abjection and how toxic narratives shape futures.
Paper long abstract:
In 2020, a class-action lawsuit was filed against Anglo American South Africa to account for decades of lead poisoning in Kabwe, Zambia. Lawyers from London and Johannesburg filed the suit on behalf of Kabwe residents. Increasingly, litigation is used as a strategy to address environmental harm. The plaintiffs' legal team has been set with the task of making sense of the legacy pollution in the courts and the media. Since experiences of legacy pollution and slow violence are often “resistant to dramatic packaging” (Nixon 2011), one way for the lawyers to make sense of the lead poisoning is through the construction of the narrative of Kabwe as “the most toxic town in the world.” I understand the narrativisation of Kabwe by the plaintiffs’ legal team to be a strategic abjection. Abjection is used as a legal strategy to create visibility of harm, in hopes of environmental justice, but how does this strategy also create experiences of marginalisation and injustice? In this paper, I explore how legal professionals strategically abject Kabwe to achieve goals of the lawsuit and the harms incurred when the language of toxicity is applied beyond the site of contamination. For Kabwe residents, the toxic narrative conflicts with and limits their visions of the future. With an increase in environmental litigation, anthropological analysis serves to evaluate the strategies and discourses employed in the legal sphere to consider how climate justice is being pursued and what types of futures and narratives are shaped through the pursuit of justice.
Joonas Plaan (Tallinn University)
Paper short abstract:
Anthropological insight into Estonia's journey in crafting its climate law—revealing messy legislative processes, clashes with emissions reduction objectives, and the struggle to reconcile nature's agency with carbon calculations.
Paper long abstract:
As the international community grapples with envisioning and enacting climate futures through legal frameworks, Estonia started a process in 2023 by initiating the creation of its first climate law, aimed to address the challenges of climate change, align the nation's economy with ecological boundaries, and ensure a sustainable environment for future generations. This paper provides a critical anthropological examination of the intricate process behind crafting this pivotal legislation.
Drawing from the author's unique position as a representative of Estonian environmental NGOs, the study delves into the complexities of the legislative process. Through active participation in high-level meetings, coordination of NGO efforts, and exposure to the lobbying tactics of fossil fuel industry, the author unveils the dynamic and often messy nature of legislative creation. The narrative unfolds the ad-hoc formulation of rules and procedures, showcasing how the pursuit of emission reduction objectives sometimes overrides considerations for human rights and statistical transparency to shield emissive industries.
This anthropological analysis sheds light on the tension between endowing nature with juridical agency while simultaneously subjecting environmental experts to recalibrate nature into mere carbon calculations. The paper exposes the intricate balance between the legal system's aspiration to incorporate scientific knowledge, ensure inclusion and transparency, and the pragmatic challenges of prioritizing carbon emissions, bureaucratic performance, and public perception. Through this lens, the study contributes valuable insights into the intersection of legal processes, environmental policy, and the ongoing struggle for climate justice.
Reetta Toivanen (University of Helsinki)
Paper short abstract:
This paper explores ethnography as a specific methodology for comprehending 'climate justice'. It draws on examples from debates in the European Arctic, involving Indigenous peoples and legal scholars with the objective to highlight the importance of anthropological analysis on climate justice.
Paper long abstract:
Anthropologists have significantly contributed to the research on climate change and sustainable development by offering a profound analysis of local experiences, emic conceptions, and knowledge of nature. Over the past decade, anthropology has taken a leading role in advocating for the co-production of knowledge with Indigenous and other local stakeholders. These efforts have been prompted by criticisms of the anthropocentric approach to climate justice. The central question of how the concept of justice is constructed and for whom it is intended holds paramount importance. Notably, the United Nations Sustainability Development Goals have been observed to neglect the concerns of Indigenous peoples. Conversely, initiatives such as the EU's Green Deal and the Critical Minerals Act exert increased pressure for mining on Indigenous peoples' traditional lands. Research that delves into power dynamics concerning the environment, resources, and Indigenous peoples' knowledge reveals a notable absence of this rich and important anthropological analysis in forums where regulatory frameworks, including technical and procedural standards, are deliberated and determined. A deficiency in understanding persists regarding the distinctive role of anthropological knowledge in comparison to knowledge generated in other sciences, such as legal sciences. This paper explores ethnography as a specific methodology for comprehending 'climate justice'. It draws on examples from debates in the European Arctic, involving Indigenous peoples and legal scholars with the objective to highlight the importance of anthropological analysis on climate justice.
Clara Mirian Torrez (University of Zurich )
Paper short abstract:
This paper delves into the historical environmental struggles in Central America, with a specific focus on the contested issues of land and the right to water through the study of the citizen science movement in El Salvador and Guatemala.
Paper long abstract:
This research delves into historical environmental struggles in Central America, honing in on the nuanced dynamics surrounding contested issues of land and the assertion of the right to water. By exploring the historical context, this study seeks to illuminate the multifaceted challenges that Central American communities have grappled with over time, unraveling the implications for their struggles of water quality and management. The protracted struggle for land rights in the region has left an indelible mark, characterized by conflicts over indigenous territories, agrarian reform, and the encroachment of agribusiness. These enduring struggles intertwine with questions of identity, autonomy, and cultural preservation, underscoring the profound complexities at play. Crucially, this research places a heightened emphasis on the mobilization of rights within these historical struggles, shedding light on the collaborative efforts of local organizations alongside experts, lawyers, biologists, and others. This collaborative approach unravels the intricate disputes that have shaped the environmental challenges faced by the region today. The fight for the right to water emerges as a pivotal facet of these environmental struggles, resonating both in the legal realm and within the territories themselves. Beyond its role as a life-sustaining resource, access to water becomes a fundamental factor in shaping power relations. By investigating the engagements of diverse actors – including indigenous communities, governmental bodies, and experts – in conflicts over water rights, this paper seeks to unveil the rich narrative of citizen science in the region, providing a deeper historical context to contemporary environmental challenges in El Salvador and Guatemala.
Jevgeniy Bluwstein (University of Bern) Lucie Benoit (University of Bern)
Paper short abstract:
Drawing on an analysis of criminal trials against climate activists in Switzerland, we examine how activists' political demands are articulated and transformed in criminal courts, and how the judiciary is undoing activists' climate justice claims through these trials.
Paper long abstract:
In this paper, we contribute to the growing field of climate litigation by offering a critical analysis of criminal trials against climate activists who have engaged in civil disobedience in the name of the climate emergency. Drawing on an analysis of criminal trials against climate activists in Switzerland, we examine how activists' political demands are articulated and transformed in criminal courts, and how the judiciary is undoing climate justice claims through these trials. Ultimately, we seek to advance a critical understanding of climate litigation and its political limits by highlighting I) the role of activists, lawyers and judges in (de)politicizing environmental justice claims, and II) the broader political economic context in which the adjudication of civil disobedience takes place through criminal trials.
Ragnhild Freng Dale (Western Norway Research Institute)
Paper short abstract:
This paper delves into justice aspects of Norway's attempt to 'green' oil and gas by electrifying production. As electrification plans create a cascade of pressures on local and indigenous ways of life in Finnmark, planning, litigation and indigenous rights all come to matter for the region's future
Paper long abstract:
Whilst Norway has pledged to be part of the green transition, the mantra by leading actors in politics and industry alike is to ‘develop, not dismantle’ the Norwegian petroleum industry. To continue and expand production, the industry is ‘going green’ by electrifying production – a solution which demands a cascade of new energy infrastructure across the country.
In Finnmark, part of Sápmi and Norway’s northernmost county, electrifying the Melkøya LNG plant means onshore wind power and power grids are being planned on land currently used for indigenous reindeer herding, harvesting, tourism and outdoor recreation. Many of those opposing such plans look to a 2021 landmark Supreme court ruling from the southern part of Sápmi, which stated two wind power plants were invalid as they denied the reindeer herders the right to practice their culture. Though the government has been slow to rectify this human rights violation, the case is seen as a precedence for environmental justice in the Norwegian system. Simultaneously, recent legislative changes give more power to municipalities in the planning of wind power, which poses new questions of procedural and recognition justice in areas where the indigenous users of land are not always represented in local politics.
Tracing local resistance against new large-scale energy infrastructure in Finnmark, this paper looks at how an ethnographic approach can follow the mobilization across ways of being on the land, political avenues, protest, public hearings and litigation, which all point to other, possible climate futures in the region.