The IPCC and the Politics of Writing Climate Change

Using a new analytical framework, this book examines the politics that shape the latest climate knowledge.

Hannah Hughes (Author)

9781009341530, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 31 October 2024

215 pages
25 x 17.5 x 1.8 cm, 0.541 kg

'… a concise analysis of the process by which the IPCC constructs and validates agreements regarding international efforts to address global climate change.… Recommended.' C. W. Herrick, CHOICE

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is one of the most significant global assessment bodies established, and it provides the most authoritative and influential assessments of climate change knowledge. This book examines the history and politics of the organisation, and how this shapes its assessment practice and the climate knowledge it produces. Developing a new methodology, this book focuses on the actors, activities, and forms of authority affecting the IPCC's constructions of climate change. It describes how social, economic, and political dynamics influence all aspects of the organisation and its work. The book contributes to understanding the place of science in politics and politics in science, and offers important insights for designing new knowledge bodies for global environmental agreement-making. It is indispensable for students and researchers in environmental studies, international relations, and political science, as well as policymakers and anyone interested in the IPCC.

Acknowledgements
List of acronyms
1. Introduction
2. Knowledge, power and order in the construction of environmental politics
3. Situating the IPCC as a practice of writing
4. Analysing the IPCC as actors, activities and forms of authority
5. A new assessment cycle
6. The order of scientific assessment
7. The politics of approval
8. Concluding on the meaning and implications of writing climate change
References
Appendix: interview data.

Subject Areas: International environmental law [LBBP]