19.11.2009

NORD/SØR SEMINAR


Monday, November 23,

18:00

International room

Student Centre


CLIMATE CHANGE AND THE POOR:

A RESPONSIBILITY TO PROTECT?


Three weeks before the "make-or-break" (bbc.co.uk) conference in Copenhagen it is no longer expected that the negotiations will result in a binding international 'treaty' on further emission cuts. Rather, the expected outcome has been downgraded from a treaty to a political declaration (Ibid), a disappointing result for those who have been counting on fruitful talks and a meaningful international deal in December.


How can we better understand the great challenges underpinning an international agreement at the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference?


A major “stumbling block” is “who should take the bill?” for the actions needed in order to slow down global warming; an issue that is highly related to the question of justice. In this seminar Dr. Asuncion Lera St.Clair (Professor; Department of Sociology*) will discuss different ways in which climate change can be seen as an ethical issue and as a question of justice. Special attention is given to the intersections of climate change with global poverty and the role of critical development studies in forging integrated knowledge on these issues.


* Dr. Asuncion Lera St.Clair, Professor in the Department of Sociology and Scientific Director for Comparative Research programme on Poverty (CROP), University of Bergen, Norway, and International Social Science Council (ISSC)


WELCOME