Climate Justice and the Scale of Contentious Politics

Abstract

While the UN Conference of Parties (COP 15) meeting in Copenhagen in December 2009 saw no meaningful decision on carbon emission reductions reached by the world’s governments, the city did witness a series of mass mobilisations by a range of civil society organisations, and an alternative conference of activists and environmental practioners called the Klimaforum which articulated a radical climate justice agenda. Such a convergence of different civil society actors – e.g. social movements, nongovernment organisation (NGOs), autonomist groups - represented the culmination of many months of collaborative action focusing upon the collective demand of climate justice. Such mobilisations raise the question of whether a climate justice ‘movement of movements’ is emerging. This panel is concerned with the geographical articulations of contentious politics concerning climate justice by different communities and civil society actors (such as social movements) in the Global North and Global South. To what extent is climate justice politics’ being articulated at the local, national and international scales? In particular, the panel will inquire into the extent to which vulnerabilities, uncertainties and injustices concerning climate change are able to transcend local concerns to form the common ground upon which the solidarities necessary for multi-scalar political action can be constructed.

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