Wil et al:
Three decades of international negotiations have not produced an effective international agreement to prevent ‘dangerous’ climate change which is almost upon us. But that is no reason not to teach the importance of mitigation. Certainly, adaptation is the order of the day but that is a national and local affair, as needs and capabilities vary. A global exchange of best practices may help but local conditions (both physical and ideational) and capabilities will rule adaptation. But even adaptation is insufficient. What is really needed is communal resilience; the ability to continue to flourish under changing conditions. At every scale this is a social and political challenge – to construct the necessary institutions - than a technocratic problem of reservoirs or sea walls, or of wildfire containment. The climate has changed and will continue to change, how will humanity continue to flourish as conditions change, probably unpredictably? Mitigation is still necessary if you would you prefer 2oC to 3oC or 4oC. In the forthcoming book Governing Complexity in the 21st Century from Routledge, Robert Geyer and I argue that even mitigation, while a global challenge, is best met with national and local responses. It is at the lower scales that the issue can best be negotiated among interested parties and effective responses fashioned. These will likely be both adaptive and mitigative (though they may be limited to ‘no regrets’). National policy will then emerge from the accumulated lower scale choices. And national policy is still critical to entice corporations (especially those that are large and multi-national) to sufficiently mitigate their GHG emissions, as John Mikler and I showed in Climate Innovation; Liberal Capitalism and Climate Change. So, government must act. And they will if enough lower scale organizations (counties cities, states, etc.) push for mitigation alongside adaptation. In most European countries and in the UK, climate change is well accepted by the populace and local and national policies already aim for relatively fast mitigation of emissions (though still insufficient to avoid dangerous climate change) and adaptation. Even so-called ‘democracy’ in these fractured United States may eventually respond. In the distant past I taught the politics of international climate negotiations with simulations. If today I were teaching climate change or sustainability, I would emphasize acting locally (down to the personal level) on a global problem. I would show that international negotiations may raise the salience of the issue but will not solve the problem. Ultimately the question is what can each of us individually and collectively do today to mitigate our emissions and contribute to community resilience. I think that is where the future will be written rather than by hot air in international negotiations. Cheers, Neil E. Harrison, Ph.D. Executive Director The Sustainable Development Institute (www.sd-institute.org <http://www.sd-institute.org/> ) Recent and Upcoming Publications Co-Author (with Robert Geyer), Governing Complexity in the 21st Century. (Manuscript in preparation for Routledge). https://www.routledge.com/Governing-Complexity-in-the-21st-Century/Harrison-Geyer/p/book/9780367276270. Co-Author (with John Mikler), Capitalism for All: Realizing its Liberal Promise (Forthcoming at SUNY Press). https://www.sunypress.edu/p-7234-capitalism-for-all.aspx. Author, Sustainable Capitalism and the Pursuit of Well-Being (Routledge 2014) - more information at www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415662819 <http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415662819> Co-Editor (with John Mikler), Climate Innovation: Liberal Capitalism and Climate Change (Palgrave Macmillan 2014) - more information at http://us.macmillan.com/climateinnovation/NeilEHarrison. Editor, Complexity in World Politics: Concepts and Methods of a New Paradigm (Albany, NY: SUNY Press, 2006). https://www.sunypress.edu/p-4294-complexity-in-world-politics.aspx. Save money and support The Sustainable Development Institute at Amazon Smile. From: [email protected] <[email protected]> On Behalf Of Wil Burns Sent: 07/26/2021 7:08 PM To: Allison M. Chatrchyan <[email protected]> Cc: Prof. G. Bothun <[email protected]>; Kate O'NEILL <[email protected]>; 'GEP-Ed List <[email protected]>; [email protected] Subject: [gep-ed] RE: [ESS Forum] Asynchronous, on-line negotiations exercises? Here’s a direct quote: “Personally, I have long believed that climate change, in the form of severe regional weather, has been upon us for the last ten years so I find it counterproductive to have students deal with "politics and policy to prevent climate change". That strongly implies that one shouldn’t spend time on mitigation issues. wil <http://twitter.com/> WIL BURNS Co-Director & Professor of Practice Institute for Carbon Removal Law & Policy American University Email: [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> Mobile: 312.550.3079 917 Forest Ave., #3S, Evanston, IL 60202 <https://www.american.edu/sis/centers/carbon-removal/> https://www.american.edu/sis/centers/carbon-removal/ Want to schedule a call? Click on one of the following scheduling links: * 60-minute phone call: <https://calendly.com/wil_burns/phone-call> https://calendly.com/wil_burns/phone-call * 30-minute phone call: <https://calendly.com/wil_burns/30min> https://calendly.com/wil_burns/30min * 15-minute phone call: <https://calendly.com/wil_burns/15min> https://calendly.com/wil_burns/15min * 60-minute conference call: <https://calendly.com/wil_burns/60-minute-conference-call> https://calendly.com/wil_burns/60-minute-conference-call * 30-minute conference call: <https://calendly.com/wil_burns/30-minute-group> https://calendly.com/wil_burns/30-minute-group * 60-minute Zoom call: <https://calendly.com/wil_burns/60min> https://calendly.com/wil_burns/60min * 30-minute Zoom call: <https://calendly.com/wil_burns/30-minute-zoom-call> https://calendly.com/wil_burns/30-minute-zoom-call Follow us: <https://www.facebook.com/Institute-for-Carbon-Removal-Law-and-Policy-336916007065063/> <https://twitter.com/CarbonRemovalAU> From: Allison M. Chatrchyan <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> > Sent: Monday, July 26, 2021 7:55 PM To: Wil Burns <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> > Cc: Prof. G. Bothun <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> >; Kate O'NEILL <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> >; 'GEP-Ed List <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> >; [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> Subject: Re: [ESS Forum] Asynchronous, on-line negotiations exercises? You might want to keep the snarky tone out of the email responses. We’re all aware of how drastic climate change is and how insufficient the response is. We’re all trying to work on this issue and teach students to take it seriously, and force governments to act. I don’t think he said he teaches with a “singular focus on adaptation.” Kind Regards, Allison On Jul 26, 2021, at 5:49 PM, Wil Burns <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> > wrote: I believe it’s a fundamental mistake to teach climate change in this fashion. Professor Bothun is assuredly correct that climate change manifestations are upon us, and substantially more is “baked in” given the fact that models indicate that temperatures would rise an additional 0.8C even if we all crawled into caves today. Having said that, however, the policies and measures that we take to decarbonize the global economy, and our time schedule for doing so, will have a profound impact on whether we ultimately hold temperatures to 2-3C above pre-industrial levels, or end up in the RCP8.5 worst case scenario territory, with temperatures rising 4-5C. So, the focus here is not on “preventing climate change,” but rather “preventing the worst possible manifestations of climate change.” Also, a singular focus on climate adaptation is likely to lead some students to believe that we can “live” with large amounts of climate change, which is much more the case for well-resourced nations such as the United States than most developing countries. For many countries in the South, full-throated mitigation policies by major emitters are critical, and I think it’s important in simulations to have students explore these options, and the equitable arguments for compelling more aggressive mitigation measures by the top 10 emitters. wil <image005.jpg> WIL BURNS Visiting Professor Environmental Policy & Culture Program Northwestern University Email: <mailto:[email protected]> [email protected] Mobile: 312.550.3079 1810/1812 Chicago Ave. Evanston, IL 60208 <https://epc.northwestern.edu/people/staff-new/wil-burns.html> https://epc.northwestern.edu/people/staff-new/wil-burns.html Want to schedule a call? Click on one of the following scheduling links: * 60-minute phone call: <https://calendly.com/wil_burns/phone-call> https://calendly.com/wil_burns/phone-call * 30-minute phone call: <https://calendly.com/wil_burns/30min> https://calendly.com/wil_burns/30min * 15-minute phone call: <https://calendly.com/wil_burns/15min> https://calendly.com/wil_burns/15min * 60-minute conference call: <https://calendly.com/wil_burns/60-minute-conference-call> https://calendly.com/wil_burns/60-minute-conference-call * 30-minute conference call: <https://calendly.com/wil_burns/30-minute-group> https://calendly.com/wil_burns/30-minute-group * 60-minute Zoom call: <https://calendly.com/wil_burns/60min> https://calendly.com/wil_burns/60min * 30-minute Zoom call: <https://calendly.com/wil_burns/30-minute-zoom-call> https://calendly.com/wil_burns/30-minute-zoom-call I acknowledge and honor the Ojibwe, Potawatomi, and Odawa, as well as the Menominee, Miami and Ho-Chunk nations, upon whose traditional homelands Northwestern University stands, and the Indigenous people who remain on this land today. From: Prof. G. Bothun <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> > Sent: Monday, July 26, 2021 4:02 PM To: Kate O'NEILL <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> > Cc: 'GEP-Ed List <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> >; [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> Subject: Re: [ESS Forum] Asynchronous, on-line negotiations exercises? I have done similar exercises but have had the most success by having groups adopt countries and analyze a) what the main effects of climate change will be on their country and how might that impact GDP b) what kinds of adaptations can be done to cope with these changes c) what is a likely financial cost, in terms of fractional GDP Personally, I have long believed that climate change, in the form of severe regional weather, has been upon us for the last ten years so I find it counterproductive to have students deal with "politics and policy to prevent climate change". I find it more productive to have them focus on the issues of a) climate change is here, b) what kind of adaptation needs to occur, c) what policies must come into place to make it significantly worse (it will get incrementally worse regardless of what we do now). On Mon, Jul 26, 2021 at 1:47 PM Kate O'NEILL <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> > wrote: Hello everyone, (Apologies for cross-posting) I hope wherever you’re at in the year is treating you well. I am teaching an on-line and asynchronous summer course right now, and because why not, I have them doing a mock climate negotiation. There are only 40 students, they’ll be in groups of 10 (10 countries in each), and they have a complex, 4 article resolution to discuss. I’m a bit worried about the final part where they discuss and debate positions and try to come up with an agreement. But we can’t do anything live, it’ll carry on over 3-5 days as they add to discussion posts as and when they can. Has anyone tried this? Any tips on getting conversations started and keeping them going? Or apps you’ve used to facilitate these/keep discussions focused? They are doing opening statements with zoom backgrounds from their assigned countries! I’ve called it a climate “politics” exercise, not a “negotiations” one, as they’ll be reflecting as they go, and we don’t have time for the full-on, regular semester version. This is a 6 week course. Happy to share what we collectively come up with, Thanks! 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