Often there is a wide gap between how uncertainty is understood and experienced from ‘below’ by the lived experiences of local people, how it is conceptualised and represented from ‘above’ by climate scientists and experts and how the ‘middle’ – civil society, NGOs, academics – can potentially function as brokers between the ‘below’ and ‘above’….
Bridging the gaps in understandings of uncertainty and climate change
Uncertainty in Climate Science: Extreme Weather Events in India
In May 2018, multiple extreme weather events claimed scores of lives, damaged property and brought public life to a standstill in parts of India. In the aftermath of these events, a blame game ensued with some assigning responsibility to scientific and state agencies, and others calling for more research and accurate weather forecasts. It is…
Agri-food transitions and the “green public sphere” in China
Studies of China’s agri-food transitions have so far largely overlooked the role of the public in policymaking and practice. We argue that a deeper understanding of public perceptions of – and engagement with – agricultural innovation, is required to better understanding the dynamic responses that exist to the multiple complex and intersecting challenges facing China’s…
Governing Food and Agriculture in a Warming World
Understanding how, why, and whether the trade-offs and tensions around simultaneous implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals are resolved both sustainably and equitably requires an appreciation of power relations across multiple scales of governance. We explore the politics and political economy of how the nexus around food, energy, and water is being governed through initiatives…
Transforming Urban Governance to Manage Uncertainty and Climate Change in Mumbai, India
IDS Policy Briefing 148 Despite unprecedented wealth accumulation, coastal Mumbai suffers from a myriad of socioeconomic and ecological challenges as well as connected uncertainties. These include endemic flooding, shrinking of sensitive ecosystems, inequality, and marginalisation of natural resource-dependent communities, such as fishers. These are in addition to existing risks, including building collapse, fire hazards, infrastructure…
Addressing Climate Change Uncertainty in Dryland Kachchh, India
IDS Policy Briefing 147 The semi-arid district of Kachchh in Gujarat, India is known for its erratic rainfall, water scarcity, and droughts. Climate change has intensified extreme temperature and rainfall patterns and also led to changes to the long coastline. These are affecting not only the lives and livelihoods of local people, but also threatening…
Living on the Edge: Climate Change and Uncertainty in the Indian Sundarbans
STEPS Working Paper 101 February 2018 The Sundarbans is a coastal delta and major climate hotspot located at the southern end of Bangladesh and in the state of West Bengal in India. The delta faces significant climatic and other ecological challenges (e.g. disappearing mangrove forest, islands affected by rising sea levels, erratic rainfall and cyclones)….
Bringing Together Voices to Address Climate Change Uncertainty in the Indian Sundarbans
IDS Policy Briefing 149 The majority of the five million people that live in the deltaic Indian Sundarbans face continuous uncertainties in relation to their shelter, livelihoods, and health. Climate change is one of the key factors aggravating this situation. While scientific evidence exists regarding climatic changes in the Sundarbans, scientists and experts often disagree…
The Political Economy for Low-carbon Energy Transition in China: Towards a New Policy Paradigm?
China has become the leading country to develop wind and solar energy industries. By presenting the institutional arrangement and interest constellations of China’s regulatory system of renewable energy sectors, this paper argues that the reasons for China’s swift expansion of wind and solar energy investment go beyond the notion of a state-led model. It also…
Making ‘Mangroves Together’: Carbon, conservation and co-management in Gazi Bay, Kenya
STEPS Working Paper 95 Market-based strategies are increasingly being framed by highlevel stakeholders as ideal means of responding to environmental problems on various scales. As a result, concepts and mechanisms that link markets to local conservation initiatives such as payments for ecosystem services (PES) schemes, carbon trading and other forms of offsetting, and conservation finance…