Session 51-2B

Climate Barbarism

In 2051, climate barbarism has become the norm. Jacob Blumenfeld wonders: how did we get there? Does genuine scientific awareness and acceptance of the existence of anthropogenic climate change really lead to collective human action against climate change? Or can it possibly lead towards anti-egalitarianism, xenophobia, and classism?

Jacob Blumenfeld

Adapt or Surrender? The policy dilemmas of climate change, habitability and migration in a low-lying atoll nation in the early 21st century.

In 2020, the territory of the Marshall Islands was less than 2 meters above sea level. Most Marshallese people strongly resisted the idea that their islands could become uninhabitable. In the late 2020s and 2030s, climate negotiators from small islands states managed to turn the narrative from one of ‘climate refugees’ and hopelessness to a more positive narrative of fighting to keep their countries habitable for future generations. Kees van der Geest looks back on the methodologies and actions that led to this turn around.

Kees van der Geest

The promise and reality of carbon dioxide removal technologies

In the late 2010s and early 2020s, the importance of ‘negative emissions’ was frequently discussed by the international community. Michael Jakob looks back at the period of 2014-2026 and analyses the different positions. While industry and conservative parties were strongly in favour of the new technologies, environmental NGOs and green parties showed hesitation.

Michael Jakob