Candice Howarth
Biographic Data
| ID | 4897249 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Candice Howarth |
| GIVEN NAMES | Candice |
| FAMILY NAME | Howarth |
| SIGNATURE | HOWARTH C |
| AFFILIATIONS | London School of Economics and Political Science |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-2132-5747 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 24 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 86 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 24 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2015 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
The evolving role of climate commissions in the mi(d)st of unambitious UK climate policy, urban climate governance experimentation and place-based climate action
Climate commissions have emerged across UK cities as new forms of urban climate governance experimentation, as national climate policy is marked by stagnation, political volatility, and a narrow focus on Net Zero. Drawing on a mixed-method approach, this article examines how climate commissions advance urban climate experimentation through: (1) place-shaping and (2) facilitating more networked, inclusive and pluralistic engagement. Commissions ca…
Critical climate geographies
Climate change has long been a concern for geographers. Yet in recent years, the relationship between the discipline of human geography and the topic of climate change has evolved. Reflecting this, an especially vibrant area of scholarship is the consolidating field of ‘critical climate geographies’: a field that not only examines the spatial and temporal dimensions of climate change, but also the social, political, economic, and cultural structu…
Boiling point
In July 2022, a national emergency was declared in the United Kingdom (UK) following the Met Office’s first-ever red extreme heat warning. As temperatures reached 40.3 °C, thousands of excess deaths were recorded. Based on 38 expert interviews and 4 focus groups with key decision-makers and stakeholders working on the frontline of the 2022 UK heatwaves, we found that the country is not prepared for extreme heat because: (1) policies and planning …
Gaps in public perceptions of extreme heat highlight UK’s lack of preparedness
Under a changing climate, heatwaves are expected to become more frequent, prolonged and extreme, posing substantial risks to populations around the world. Public perceptions of extreme heat are chronically under-researched, despite being important precursors to heat protective actions, policy acceptance and community heat resilience. We present and discuss findings from a nationally representative survey of 1750 UK residents conducted in summer 2…
Integrating climate mitigation and adaptation in the UK
Limited research considers integrating mitigation and adaptation for heat risk resilience. • Mitigation and adaptation integration considered important and feasible by key heat risk practitioners. • Climate mitigation and adaptation integration typically not implemented in practice. • Enablers and challenges exist when considering integration in context of heat risk. • “Climate resilient net zero” framing is more effective than “integration”, for…
Effective climate action must integrate climate adaptation and mitigation
What's in store for UK climate policy in the next five years? Reflections from environmental leaders past, present and future
In light of the UK's 2024 general election and new government, UK policy on climate change is likely to see a shift in direction. This paper presents the proceedings of an event held at the UK Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) (RGS‐IBG) in February 2024, exploring the path ahead for UK climate policy. Four expert panelists were asked to reflect on the achievements and shortcomings of climate policy over the past five years and to provide insi…
The role and effectiveness of climate commissions in engaging the public on climate change in the UK
Against the backdrop of a fragmented and evolving governance landscape, this paper examines how effective climate commissions are in engaging the public to co-produce local climate action in the UK. Climate commissions are emerging amid heightened concerns regarding the top-down style of policymaking on climate change and resource-constrained local authorities. However, less is known about how they engage the public who are pivotal for climate ac…
Translating climate risk assessments into more effective adaptation decision-making
Climate risk continues to be framed ostensibly in terms of physical, socio-economic and/or ecological risks, as evidenced in the 2012 and 2017 UK Climate Change Risk Assessment (CCRA) evidence reports. This article argues that framing climate risk in this way remains problematic for the science-policy process, particularly in ensuring adequate climate risk assessment information translates into more effective adaptation decision-making. We argue …
Exploring heat risk adaptation governance
Rising temperatures exacerbated by climate change are a growing concern in the UK. This paper assesses the state of heat risk governance in the country through an analysis of the Adverse Weather and Health Plan (AWHP) launched in 2023, which replaces the former Heatwave Plan (HWP) for England — the prominent policy for addressing heatwaves in the UK. Through 17 semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders, the paper assesses the perceived eff…
Changing behavioral responses to heat risk in a warming world
Heat risks, such as those associated with heatwaves, are increasing in frequency, severity, and duration due to climate change. The ways in which people around the globe perceive and respond to heat risks are now of great importance to reduce a range of negative health outcomes. A growing body of literature aims to assess the factors that influence people's behaviors in relation to heat risks. This research can inform better interventions, such a…
Integrating adaptation practice in assessments of climate change science
The delivery of effective climate adaptation on the ground requires that the (climate adaptation) practitioner community be better incorporated into the process of producing, gathering and synthesizing evidence on adaptation as part of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) process. This is not a recent issue and the co-production of knowledge, that goes beyond the traditional realms of ‘science speaks to power’, can only fully info…
Representing ‘Place’
Against the backdrop of increasingly fragmented and poly-centric urban climate governance, this article examines the establishment of city climate ‘commissions’ as an experimental means of addressing the challenge of climate change at the city-scale. In doing so it addresses the question: What constitutes diversity in voices and perspectives when trying to represent the city as a place for climate action? To answer this question, the article pres…
The ‘co’ in co-production of climate action
Effective action taken against climate change must find ways to unite scientific and practice-based knowledges associated with the various stakeholders who see themselves as invested in the global delivery of climate governance. Political decision-makers, climate scientists and practitioners approach this challenge from what are often radically different perspectives and experiences. While considerable work has been done to develop the idea of ‘c…
Increasing Local Salience of Climate Change
The media play a vital role in framing the narrative on climate change, however little work exists to assess the extent to which local media outlets increase public engagement on climate change through interaction and engagement with local academics. As temperatures rise and concerns mount that we have passed the tipping point, local media play a potentially critical role in communicating how climate change exacerbates their impact. Based on a re…
Climate Services and Communication for Development
Climate services entail providing timely and tailored climate information to end-users in order to facilitate and improve decision-making processes. Climate services are instrumental in socio-economic development and benefit substantially from interdisciplinary collaborations, particularly when including Early Career Researchers (ECRs). This commentary critically discusses deliberations from an interdisciplinary workshop involving ECRs from the U…
Improving resilience to hot weather in the UK
At present, there is little guidance on how to communicate the dangers relating to hot weather events and on how to better prepare for them. Social responses to hot weather risks need to be a priority as populations around the world become more exposed to these under a changing climate. In this commentary, we argue that policy interventions focused on improving resilience to hot weather need to be more closely aligned with broader sustainability …
Locating climate adaptation in urban and regional studies
This paper adds new insights to the relationship between city-regionalism, the territorial logics of the competition state and how climate adaptation is located in state spaces. Whilst climate adaptation governance is positioned within national economic sectors, it highlights an emerging city-regional policy dimension to such governance. The spatial reconfiguration of climate change adaptation governance reflects a tension between three quite dis…
Co-producing UK climate change adaptation policy
This paper explores the use and perceived usefulness of the 2012 and 2017 United Kingdom Climate Change Risk Assessment (CCRA) reports to identify potential areas of improvement for UK adaptation policy. We conducted interviews with key stakeholders and analysed each CCRA in the context of objective, audience, budget, frame, key findings, dissemination, and how they informed policy. We found that stakeholders used the CCRA in three main ways: (i)…
Climate stories
Public perceptions of the climate debate predominantly frame the key actors as climate scientists versus sceptical voices; however, it is unclear why climate scientists and sceptical voices choose to participate in this antagonistic and polarised public battle. A narrative interview approach is used to better understand the underlying rationales behind 22 climate scientists’ and sceptical voices’ engagement in the climate debate, potential common…
Informing decision making on climate change and low carbon futures
Narratives can help increase experiential engagement with climate change and build support for transitions to a low carbon future. The UK’s 2050 climate targets provide indicatives frames through which emissions reductions could be translated to different contexts. The scenarios outlined in the UK’s fifth carbon budget will require lifestyle changes which may need to counter low levels of acceptance of the need to change through technological, po…
Opportunities for knowledge co-production across the energy-food-water nexus
The relationship between the energy-food-water nexus and the climate is non-linear, multi-sectoral and time sensitive, incorporating aspects of complexity and risk in climate related decision-making. Current methods of analysis were not built to represent such a complex system and are insufficiently equipped to capture and understand positive and negative externalities generated by the interactions among different stakeholders involved in the ene…
Understanding barriers to decision making in the UK energy-food-water nexus
The nexus represents a multi-dimensional means of scientific enquiry which seeks to describe the complex and non-linear interactions between water, energy, food, with the climate, and further understand wider implications for society. These resources are fundamental for human life but are negatively affected by shocks such as climate change and characterize some of the main challenges for global sustainable development. Given the multidimensional…
Labeling opinions in the climate debate
Labels play an important role in opinion formation, helping to actively construct perceptions and reality, and place individuals into context with others. As a highly complex issue, climate change invites a range of different opinions and dialogs about its causes, impacts, and action required. However, the polarized labels used in the climate change debate, such as skeptic or alarmist, are both reflecting and helping to frame the debate as antago…
Understanding barriers to decision making in the UK energy-food-water nexus
The nexus represents a multi-dimensional means of scientific enquiry which seeks to describe the complex and non-linear interactions between water, energy, food, with the climate, and further understand wider implications for society. These resources are fundamental for human life but are negatively affected by shocks such as climate change and characterize some of the main challenges for global sustainable development. Given the multidimensional…
Opportunities for knowledge co-production across the energy-food-water nexus
The relationship between the energy-food-water nexus and the climate is non-linear, multi-sectoral and time sensitive, incorporating aspects of complexity and risk in climate related decision-making. Current methods of analysis were not built to represent such a complex system and are insufficiently equipped to capture and understand positive and negative externalities generated by the interactions among different stakeholders involved in the ene…
The ‘co’ in co-production of climate action
Effective action taken against climate change must find ways to unite scientific and practice-based knowledges associated with the various stakeholders who see themselves as invested in the global delivery of climate governance. Political decision-makers, climate scientists and practitioners approach this challenge from what are often radically different perspectives and experiences. While considerable work has been done to develop the idea of ‘c…
Informing decision making on climate change and low carbon futures
Narratives can help increase experiential engagement with climate change and build support for transitions to a low carbon future. The UK’s 2050 climate targets provide indicatives frames through which emissions reductions could be translated to different contexts. The scenarios outlined in the UK’s fifth carbon budget will require lifestyle changes which may need to counter low levels of acceptance of the need to change through technological, po…
Locating climate adaptation in urban and regional studies
This paper adds new insights to the relationship between city-regionalism, the territorial logics of the competition state and how climate adaptation is located in state spaces. Whilst climate adaptation governance is positioned within national economic sectors, it highlights an emerging city-regional policy dimension to such governance. The spatial reconfiguration of climate change adaptation governance reflects a tension between three quite dis…
Translating climate risk assessments into more effective adaptation decision-making
Climate risk continues to be framed ostensibly in terms of physical, socio-economic and/or ecological risks, as evidenced in the 2012 and 2017 UK Climate Change Risk Assessment (CCRA) evidence reports. This article argues that framing climate risk in this way remains problematic for the science-policy process, particularly in ensuring adequate climate risk assessment information translates into more effective adaptation decision-making. We argue …
Changing behavioral responses to heat risk in a warming world
Heat risks, such as those associated with heatwaves, are increasing in frequency, severity, and duration due to climate change. The ways in which people around the globe perceive and respond to heat risks are now of great importance to reduce a range of negative health outcomes. A growing body of literature aims to assess the factors that influence people's behaviors in relation to heat risks. This research can inform better interventions, such a…
Improving resilience to hot weather in the UK
At present, there is little guidance on how to communicate the dangers relating to hot weather events and on how to better prepare for them. Social responses to hot weather risks need to be a priority as populations around the world become more exposed to these under a changing climate. In this commentary, we argue that policy interventions focused on improving resilience to hot weather need to be more closely aligned with broader sustainability …
Gaps in public perceptions of extreme heat highlight UK’s lack of preparedness
Under a changing climate, heatwaves are expected to become more frequent, prolonged and extreme, posing substantial risks to populations around the world. Public perceptions of extreme heat are chronically under-researched, despite being important precursors to heat protective actions, policy acceptance and community heat resilience. We present and discuss findings from a nationally representative survey of 1750 UK residents conducted in summer 2…
Integrating climate mitigation and adaptation in the UK
Limited research considers integrating mitigation and adaptation for heat risk resilience. • Mitigation and adaptation integration considered important and feasible by key heat risk practitioners. • Climate mitigation and adaptation integration typically not implemented in practice. • Enablers and challenges exist when considering integration in context of heat risk. • “Climate resilient net zero” framing is more effective than “integration”, for…
Exploring heat risk adaptation governance
Rising temperatures exacerbated by climate change are a growing concern in the UK. This paper assesses the state of heat risk governance in the country through an analysis of the Adverse Weather and Health Plan (AWHP) launched in 2023, which replaces the former Heatwave Plan (HWP) for England — the prominent policy for addressing heatwaves in the UK. Through 17 semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders, the paper assesses the perceived eff…
Integrating adaptation practice in assessments of climate change science
The delivery of effective climate adaptation on the ground requires that the (climate adaptation) practitioner community be better incorporated into the process of producing, gathering and synthesizing evidence on adaptation as part of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) process. This is not a recent issue and the co-production of knowledge, that goes beyond the traditional realms of ‘science speaks to power’, can only fully info…
Representing ‘Place’
Against the backdrop of increasingly fragmented and poly-centric urban climate governance, this article examines the establishment of city climate ‘commissions’ as an experimental means of addressing the challenge of climate change at the city-scale. In doing so it addresses the question: What constitutes diversity in voices and perspectives when trying to represent the city as a place for climate action? To answer this question, the article pres…
Co-producing UK climate change adaptation policy
This paper explores the use and perceived usefulness of the 2012 and 2017 United Kingdom Climate Change Risk Assessment (CCRA) reports to identify potential areas of improvement for UK adaptation policy. We conducted interviews with key stakeholders and analysed each CCRA in the context of objective, audience, budget, frame, key findings, dissemination, and how they informed policy. We found that stakeholders used the CCRA in three main ways: (i)…
Labeling opinions in the climate debate
Labels play an important role in opinion formation, helping to actively construct perceptions and reality, and place individuals into context with others. As a highly complex issue, climate change invites a range of different opinions and dialogs about its causes, impacts, and action required. However, the polarized labels used in the climate change debate, such as skeptic or alarmist, are both reflecting and helping to frame the debate as antago…
Understanding barriers to decision making in the UK energy-food-water nexus
The nexus represents a multi-dimensional means of scientific enquiry which seeks to describe the complex and non-linear interactions between water, energy, food, with the climate, and further understand wider implications for society. These resources are fundamental for human life but are negatively affected by shocks such as climate change and characterize some of the main challenges for global sustainable development. Given the multidimensional…
Climate stories
Public perceptions of the climate debate predominantly frame the key actors as climate scientists versus sceptical voices; however, it is unclear why climate scientists and sceptical voices choose to participate in this antagonistic and polarised public battle. A narrative interview approach is used to better understand the underlying rationales behind 22 climate scientists’ and sceptical voices’ engagement in the climate debate, potential common…
Informing decision making on climate change and low carbon futures
Narratives can help increase experiential engagement with climate change and build support for transitions to a low carbon future. The UK’s 2050 climate targets provide indicatives frames through which emissions reductions could be translated to different contexts. The scenarios outlined in the UK’s fifth carbon budget will require lifestyle changes which may need to counter low levels of acceptance of the need to change through technological, po…
Opportunities for knowledge co-production across the energy-food-water nexus
The relationship between the energy-food-water nexus and the climate is non-linear, multi-sectoral and time sensitive, incorporating aspects of complexity and risk in climate related decision-making. Current methods of analysis were not built to represent such a complex system and are insufficiently equipped to capture and understand positive and negative externalities generated by the interactions among different stakeholders involved in the ene…
Co-producing UK climate change adaptation policy
This paper explores the use and perceived usefulness of the 2012 and 2017 United Kingdom Climate Change Risk Assessment (CCRA) reports to identify potential areas of improvement for UK adaptation policy. We conducted interviews with key stakeholders and analysed each CCRA in the context of objective, audience, budget, frame, key findings, dissemination, and how they informed policy. We found that stakeholders used the CCRA in three main ways: (i)…
Increasing Local Salience of Climate Change
The media play a vital role in framing the narrative on climate change, however little work exists to assess the extent to which local media outlets increase public engagement on climate change through interaction and engagement with local academics. As temperatures rise and concerns mount that we have passed the tipping point, local media play a potentially critical role in communicating how climate change exacerbates their impact. Based on a re…
Climate Services and Communication for Development
Climate services entail providing timely and tailored climate information to end-users in order to facilitate and improve decision-making processes. Climate services are instrumental in socio-economic development and benefit substantially from interdisciplinary collaborations, particularly when including Early Career Researchers (ECRs). This commentary critically discusses deliberations from an interdisciplinary workshop involving ECRs from the U…
Improving resilience to hot weather in the UK
At present, there is little guidance on how to communicate the dangers relating to hot weather events and on how to better prepare for them. Social responses to hot weather risks need to be a priority as populations around the world become more exposed to these under a changing climate. In this commentary, we argue that policy interventions focused on improving resilience to hot weather need to be more closely aligned with broader sustainability …
Locating climate adaptation in urban and regional studies
This paper adds new insights to the relationship between city-regionalism, the territorial logics of the competition state and how climate adaptation is located in state spaces. Whilst climate adaptation governance is positioned within national economic sectors, it highlights an emerging city-regional policy dimension to such governance. The spatial reconfiguration of climate change adaptation governance reflects a tension between three quite dis…
Representing ‘Place’
Against the backdrop of increasingly fragmented and poly-centric urban climate governance, this article examines the establishment of city climate ‘commissions’ as an experimental means of addressing the challenge of climate change at the city-scale. In doing so it addresses the question: What constitutes diversity in voices and perspectives when trying to represent the city as a place for climate action? To answer this question, the article pres…
The ‘co’ in co-production of climate action
Effective action taken against climate change must find ways to unite scientific and practice-based knowledges associated with the various stakeholders who see themselves as invested in the global delivery of climate governance. Political decision-makers, climate scientists and practitioners approach this challenge from what are often radically different perspectives and experiences. While considerable work has been done to develop the idea of ‘c…
Integrating adaptation practice in assessments of climate change science
The delivery of effective climate adaptation on the ground requires that the (climate adaptation) practitioner community be better incorporated into the process of producing, gathering and synthesizing evidence on adaptation as part of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) process. This is not a recent issue and the co-production of knowledge, that goes beyond the traditional realms of ‘science speaks to power’, can only fully info…
Changing behavioral responses to heat risk in a warming world
Heat risks, such as those associated with heatwaves, are increasing in frequency, severity, and duration due to climate change. The ways in which people around the globe perceive and respond to heat risks are now of great importance to reduce a range of negative health outcomes. A growing body of literature aims to assess the factors that influence people's behaviors in relation to heat risks. This research can inform better interventions, such a…
Effective climate action must integrate climate adaptation and mitigation
What's in store for UK climate policy in the next five years? Reflections from environmental leaders past, present and future
In light of the UK's 2024 general election and new government, UK policy on climate change is likely to see a shift in direction. This paper presents the proceedings of an event held at the UK Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) (RGS‐IBG) in February 2024, exploring the path ahead for UK climate policy. Four expert panelists were asked to reflect on the achievements and shortcomings of climate policy over the past five years and to provide insi…
The role and effectiveness of climate commissions in engaging the public on climate change in the UK
Against the backdrop of a fragmented and evolving governance landscape, this paper examines how effective climate commissions are in engaging the public to co-produce local climate action in the UK. Climate commissions are emerging amid heightened concerns regarding the top-down style of policymaking on climate change and resource-constrained local authorities. However, less is known about how they engage the public who are pivotal for climate ac…
Translating climate risk assessments into more effective adaptation decision-making
Climate risk continues to be framed ostensibly in terms of physical, socio-economic and/or ecological risks, as evidenced in the 2012 and 2017 UK Climate Change Risk Assessment (CCRA) evidence reports. This article argues that framing climate risk in this way remains problematic for the science-policy process, particularly in ensuring adequate climate risk assessment information translates into more effective adaptation decision-making. We argue …
Exploring heat risk adaptation governance
Rising temperatures exacerbated by climate change are a growing concern in the UK. This paper assesses the state of heat risk governance in the country through an analysis of the Adverse Weather and Health Plan (AWHP) launched in 2023, which replaces the former Heatwave Plan (HWP) for England — the prominent policy for addressing heatwaves in the UK. Through 17 semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders, the paper assesses the perceived eff…
Boiling point
In July 2022, a national emergency was declared in the United Kingdom (UK) following the Met Office’s first-ever red extreme heat warning. As temperatures reached 40.3 °C, thousands of excess deaths were recorded. Based on 38 expert interviews and 4 focus groups with key decision-makers and stakeholders working on the frontline of the 2022 UK heatwaves, we found that the country is not prepared for extreme heat because: (1) policies and planning …
Gaps in public perceptions of extreme heat highlight UK’s lack of preparedness
Under a changing climate, heatwaves are expected to become more frequent, prolonged and extreme, posing substantial risks to populations around the world. Public perceptions of extreme heat are chronically under-researched, despite being important precursors to heat protective actions, policy acceptance and community heat resilience. We present and discuss findings from a nationally representative survey of 1750 UK residents conducted in summer 2…
Integrating climate mitigation and adaptation in the UK
Limited research considers integrating mitigation and adaptation for heat risk resilience. • Mitigation and adaptation integration considered important and feasible by key heat risk practitioners. • Climate mitigation and adaptation integration typically not implemented in practice. • Enablers and challenges exist when considering integration in context of heat risk. • “Climate resilient net zero” framing is more effective than “integration”, for…
The evolving role of climate commissions in the mi(d)st of unambitious UK climate policy, urban climate governance experimentation and place-based climate action
Climate commissions have emerged across UK cities as new forms of urban climate governance experimentation, as national climate policy is marked by stagnation, political volatility, and a narrow focus on Net Zero. Drawing on a mixed-method approach, this article examines how climate commissions advance urban climate experimentation through: (1) place-shaping and (2) facilitating more networked, inclusive and pluralistic engagement. Commissions ca…
Critical climate geographies
Climate change has long been a concern for geographers. Yet in recent years, the relationship between the discipline of human geography and the topic of climate change has evolved. Reflecting this, an especially vibrant area of scholarship is the consolidating field of ‘critical climate geographies’: a field that not only examines the spatial and temporal dimensions of climate change, but also the social, political, economic, and cultural structu…
Climate change (22 works) · Sustainability and Climate Change Governance (17 works) · Political science (16 works) · Environmental resource management (13 works) · Psychology (12 works) · Climate Change Communication and Perception (11 works) · Ecology (11 works) · Geography (10 works) · Business (9 works) · Climate Change and Health Impacts (8 works)