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Making warming worlds : Future making between climate politics and science – The case of the Structured Expert Dialogue

Livingston, Jasmine E. LU ; Thoni, Terese LU and Beck, Silke (2024) In Futures 163.
Abstract

The Long-Term Global Goal (LTGG) is the focal point for addressing future climate change. This paper explores a specific institutional context: the Structured Expert Dialogue (SED) of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Set up as a platform for interaction between experts and UN negotiators, the SED is a site where scientific information about the LTGG and net-zero was translated into actionable targets for policymaking. We identify different modes of anticipation in the SED - as scientific, lived future, and ethical/political - and explore how they emerged and played out. We ask how these different modes of anticipation produce a particular vision of a desirable future and legitimise ways of governing future climate... (More)

The Long-Term Global Goal (LTGG) is the focal point for addressing future climate change. This paper explores a specific institutional context: the Structured Expert Dialogue (SED) of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Set up as a platform for interaction between experts and UN negotiators, the SED is a site where scientific information about the LTGG and net-zero was translated into actionable targets for policymaking. We identify different modes of anticipation in the SED - as scientific, lived future, and ethical/political - and explore how they emerged and played out. We ask how these different modes of anticipation produce a particular vision of a desirable future and legitimise ways of governing future climate change. We observe that the scientific and technical mode of anticipation is dominant and has shaped the definition of the LTGG, focussing on numerical targets and side-lining geopolitical and distributive consequences. We also see the science-based framing being re-politicised and challenged, and discuss how capacities to get a voice in the SED were unequally distributed. Based on our findings, we suggest that care is needed to design spaces in order to consider ethical and political consequences of the LTGG and rethink modes of participation and representation.

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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Anticipation, Climate change, Net zero, Politics, Structured Expert Dialogue, UNFCCC
in
Futures
volume
163
article number
103442
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • scopus:85200608975
ISSN
0016-3287
DOI
10.1016/j.futures.2024.103442
language
English
LU publication?
yes
additional info
Publisher Copyright: © 2024 The Authors
id
c2694dbe-763f-4c54-af36-6b666ed7565c
date added to LUP
2024-08-19 07:42:18
date last changed
2024-08-26 09:57:27
@article{c2694dbe-763f-4c54-af36-6b666ed7565c,
  abstract     = {{<p>The Long-Term Global Goal (LTGG) is the focal point for addressing future climate change. This paper explores a specific institutional context: the Structured Expert Dialogue (SED) of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Set up as a platform for interaction between experts and UN negotiators, the SED is a site where scientific information about the LTGG and net-zero was translated into actionable targets for policymaking. We identify different modes of anticipation in the SED - as scientific, lived future, and ethical/political - and explore how they emerged and played out. We ask how these different modes of anticipation produce a particular vision of a desirable future and legitimise ways of governing future climate change. We observe that the scientific and technical mode of anticipation is dominant and has shaped the definition of the LTGG, focussing on numerical targets and side-lining geopolitical and distributive consequences. We also see the science-based framing being re-politicised and challenged, and discuss how capacities to get a voice in the SED were unequally distributed. Based on our findings, we suggest that care is needed to design spaces in order to consider ethical and political consequences of the LTGG and rethink modes of participation and representation.</p>}},
  author       = {{Livingston, Jasmine E. and Thoni, Terese and Beck, Silke}},
  issn         = {{0016-3287}},
  keywords     = {{Anticipation; Climate change; Net zero; Politics; Structured Expert Dialogue; UNFCCC}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{Futures}},
  title        = {{Making warming worlds : Future making between climate politics and science – The case of the Structured Expert Dialogue}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.futures.2024.103442}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.futures.2024.103442}},
  volume       = {{163}},
  year         = {{2024}},
}