Nature-Culture Dualism in International Climate Change Discussions

Elise DowningIndigenous Peoples and Climate Change Conference

University of OregonMay 2012

Overview• How does society define nature?• How is our social conception of nature visible

in international climate change governing documents?– United Nations Framework Convention on Climate

Change (UNFCCC)– UNFCCC Kyoto Protocol– Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)

Report of 2007

Nature and People

• Separation between humans and nature is part of cultural history of the West– Development of the city– Systems of Knowledge– Legal and Government Institutions

• Human-Nature Dualism or Nature-Culture Dualism

“Anthropogenic Climate Change”

• Human caused shifts in how the global climate system functions

• Contradicts human-nature dualism

On the International Stage

Continued human-nature separation in:– Language– Structure– Content

Language

• UNFCCC ““Adverse effects of CC” means changes in the physical environmental or biota resulting from CC which have significant deleterious effects on the composition resilience or productivity of natural and managed ecosystems or on the operations of socio-economic systems or on human health and welfare

Structure and Organization

IPCC Report 2007, Summary for Policy Makers, p 16.

Content, Science, Carbon Emissions

• Kyoto Protocol, Article 10, discussing adaptation“c. Cooperate in the promotion of effective modalities for the development, application and diffusion of, and take all practicable steps to promote, facilitate and finance, as appropriate, the transfer of, or access to, environmentally sound technologies, know-how, practices and processes pertinent to climate change”

Conclusions

• Yes: Human systems are affected by climate change.

• No: Humans fundamentally live within environmental constraints.

• Yes: Humans are changing the climate with carbon and GHG emissions

• No: Humans influence the climate and environment outside of those factors.

Conclusions

Dualism > Holism

Anthropogenic Climate Change =

Carbon Emissions