Changing climate, changing democracy

A Cautionary Tale

Bibliographic Data

ID4916119
AuthorsMhairi Aitken (0000-0002-4654-9803, Glasgow Centre for Population Health, corresponding author)
Year2012
Volume21
Issue2
Pages211-229
Publication date2012-03-01
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueEnvironmental Politics (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0964-4016 • E-ISSN: 1743-8934
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/09644016.2012.651899
OpenAlexW2029052834
LanguageEN
Citations received8
References cited46

Climate change has come to hold a central position within many policy arenas. However, a particular framing of climate change and climate science, underpinned by modernist assumptions, dominates policy discourse. This leads to restricted policy responses reflecting particular interests and socio-political imaginaries. There is little public debate concerning this framing or the assumptions underpinning approaches to climate policy. The implications of this are illustrated by considering the ways in which UK planning policy has adapted to reflect commitments to mitigate climate change. It is shown that the importance attributed to climate change mitigation has had negative impacts on democratic involvement in planning processes. Given the uncertainty and high stakes of climate science (typical of post-normal science), value may be gained by incorporating the views and perspectives of ‘extended peer communities’, to question not only the processes and findings of climate science but also the ways in which the science is interpreted and responded to through policy

Climate change · Climate policy · Climate science · Democracy · Geography · Political economy · Political economy of climate change · Political science · Politics · Science policy · Sociology · Underpinning · Climate Change, Adaptation, Migration · Law · Public Administration · Social Acceptance of Renewable Energy · Sustainability and Climate Change Governance

Tools

Open DOISci-Hub