A Climate of Injustice: Global Inequality, North-South Politics, and Climate Policy (Global Environmental Accord: Strategies for Sustainability and Institutional Innovation) [Paperback]

J. Timmons Roberts (Author), Bradley Parks (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 22, 2006 | ISBN-10: 0262681617 | ISBN-13: 978-0262681612

The global debate over who should take action to address climate change is extremely precarious, as diametrically opposed perceptions of climate justice threaten the prospects for any long-term agreement. Poor nations fear limits on their efforts to grow economically and meet the needs of their own people, while powerful industrial nations, including the United States, refuse to curtail their own excesses unless developing countries make similar sacrifices. Meanwhile, although industrialized countries are responsible for 60 percent of the greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change, developing countries suffer the "worst and first" effects of climate-related disasters, including droughts, floods, and storms, because of their geographical locations. In A Climate of Injustice, J. Timmons Roberts and Bradley Parks analyze the role that inequality between rich and poor nations plays in the negotiation of global climate agreements.Roberts and Parks argue that global inequality dampens cooperative efforts by reinforcing the "structuralist" worldviews and causal beliefs of many poor nations, eroding conditions of generalized trust, and promoting particularistic notions of "fair" solutions. They develop new measures of climate-related inequality, analyzing fatality and homelessness rates from hydrometeorological disasters, patterns of "emissions inequality," and participation in international environmental regimes. Until we recognize that reaching a North-South global climate pact requires addressing larger issues of inequality and striking a global bargain on environment and development, Roberts and Parks argue, the current policy gridlock will remain unresolved.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"In their superb contribution to scholarly and political debates about the future of international efforts to cope with climate change, J. Timmons Roberts and Bradley C. Parks offer a carefully developed, richly documented, and convincingly supported account of the origins, dynamics, and implications of the current North-Soutn impasse." Jörg Balsiger International Environmental Agreements

"This is a remarkable book. In applying a wide variety of disciplinary approachesempirical and theoretical, qualitative and quantitativethe authors provide a thorough and truly global understanding of the structural inequalities and injustice that come with contemporary climate politics and disasters. A rich, sophisticated, and balanced study that moves beyond structural explanations and opens horizons for change." Arthur P. J. Mol , Wageningen University, The Netherlands

About the Author

J. Timmons Roberts is James Martin 21st Century Professor at the Environmental Change Institute, Oxford University, UK, and Professor of Sociology at the College of William and Mary, US.

Product Details

• Paperback: 418 pages
• Publisher: The MIT Press (November 22, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0262681617
• ISBN-13: 978-0262681612
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 0.8 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #268,828 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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