Risk? Crisis? Emergency? Implications of the new climate emergency framing for governance and policy

Bibliographic Data

ID12929630
AuthorsLucy Holmes McHugh (0000-0003-1239-9525, ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, corresponding author), Maria Carmen Lemos (0000-0001-6686-730X, University of Michigan), Tiffany H Morrison (0000-0001-5433-037X, ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies)
Year2021
Volume12
Issue6
Publication date2021-08-23
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueWiley Interdisciplinary Reviews Climate Change (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1757-7780 • E-ISSN: 1757-7799
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1002/wcc.736
OpenAlexW3195515254
LanguageEN
Citations received40
References cited88

The term “climate emergency” represents a new phase in climate change framing that many hope will invigorate more climate action. Yet there has been relatively little discussion of how the new emergency framing might shape broader governance and policy. In this advanced review, we critically review and synthesize existing literature on crisis and emergency to inform our understanding of how this new shift might affect governance and policy. Specifically, we explore the literature on crisis governance and policy to argue that there is no simple answer to whether the “climate emergency” framing will be supportive of climate governance and policy; rather, more work needs to be done to understand how different political actors respond according to their perceptions, interests and values. To assist this endeavor, we develop a typology of four policy pathways, ranging from “no emergency,” to “no emergency, but recognize risk,” “emergency as a threat” and “emergency as an opportunity.” We highlight the need to consider the effects of multiple and overlapping emergency frames, using the example of the intersection of climate change and COVID‐19. Finally, we suggest new interdisciplinary research directions for critically analyzing and refining this new phase of climate change framing. This article is categorized under: Policy and Governance > Governing Climate Change in Communities, Cities, and Regions Policy and Governance > Multilevel and Transnational Climate Change Governance

Business · Climate change · Corporate governance · Framing (construction · Geography · Multi-level governance · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Typology · Climate Change, Adaptation, Migration · Disaster Management and Resilience · Sustainability and Climate Change Governance

Tools

Open DOIOpen Access