Hello from the Environment and Climate Politics Working Group conveners

Purpose and aims

We have started the Environment and Climate Politics Working Group as a hub that encompasses all research and researchers who share a commitment and concern for tackling questions of environment and climate politics. These questions are global, and we hope this will be reflected in our membership. They include questions of climate, but also of land, air, water, and biosphere. 

The group aims to build community amongst those interested in environmental politics, establishing BISA as a hub for this research in the UK, with the ambition that the group will be as successful as the Environmental Studies Section at ISA. Currently, researchers of climate and environment are often choosing geography or overseas conferences, and we would like to change that by building an international reputation for strong, critical, relevant events and conference programmes. 

The group is being established with some thematic interests, but with the expectation that this list will develop and change over time, as this large and fast-moving research area continues to develop. Climate politics is a key area, as the majority of the research that was presented at BISA 2024 showed. Within climate politics, there are the themes of: mitigation, adaptation, loss and damage, just transition, climate coloniality, and climate justice. Under climate politics, we are interested as well in pursuing the increasingly fraught politics of climate change in a post-liberal world order: populist weaponisation of climate change, stalling climate multilateralism, social and political resistance to Netzero targets, new international configurations of climate leadership, etc. We will also engage with the peculiarities of climate politics in the Global South, such as low carbon climate resilient development challenges, the implications of global climate governance for Global South countries, climate equity and power imbalances, and differential vulnerabilities of communities. All that said, we aim also to commit to highlighting research that is concerned with environmental degradation beyond climate, reflecting the stress that all of our systems of life are under. 

Thematically, then, we are interested in the current concerns of climate politics, the international politics of climate change, but also political ecology, planetary justice, degrowth, water stress, land use struggles, and air pollution. The latter concerns are important as some proposed solutions to climate change are also further exacerbating these other environmental issues. Additionally, we envisage that researchers of non-human life will be included within our ranks, as questions of animal welfare, and more than-human rights are also areas of increasing interest. Finally, we would like to be involved in ongoing discussions about the environmental impacts of research itself, in particular academic flying, and the sustainability of current conferencing norms. 

Who we are

Richard Beardsworth (University of Leeds)

I am Professor of International Relations and Head of the School of Politics and International Studies at the University of Leeds. I also co-chair the university’s UNFCCC Task Force and am a commissioner of the Yorkshire and Humber Climate Commission. My research and impact work are on the politics of climate change and climate leadership.

Christoper McAteer (PhD, York University, Canada)

I am a PhD candidate in Social and Political Thought at York University, Canada, currently based in Northern Ireland as I complete my dissertation. My project examines the relationship between world politics and climate change through the question of time and involves a novel engagement with music theory and philosophy. I also work on nature protection policy for an eNGO.

Suravee Nayak (The International Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) - Hyderabad, India)

I am a Research Associate at IIIT-Hyderabad, India working on a Swedish Research Council (SRC) project which explores the possibilities and complexities of returning de-coaled land to marginalised communities in central-eastern coalfields of India in support of just and sustainable livelihoods. My research analyses the political economy and ecology of coal mining in the context of just energy transition and climate justice in India and beyond.

Charlotte Weatherill (The Open University)

I am a Lecturer in Politics & International Studies at The Open University. My research explores the concept of vulnerability in climate change politics, particularly in relation to Oceania and colonial discourses. My research interests include environmental and climate change politics, and theories of feminism, coloniality and racial capitalism.

Danielle Young (University of Leeds)

I am a research fellow at the University of Leeds examining the political and security implications of emerging solar geoengineering technologies. My PhD research focused on how climate change exposed the limitations of modern international political order. 

Ebony Young (PhD, University of Glasgow)

I am a doctoral researcher in Political & International Studies at the University of Glasgow. My PhD research explores post-humanist approaches to sovereignty in the context of anthropogenic climate change. I’m interested in all things matter, nature, IR theory and spatial thinking.

How you can be involved 

Our first event will be on Earth Day, 22 April 2025, with Prakash Karwan, Associate Professor of Environmental Studies at Brandeis University, Founder of the Climate Justice Network and Chair of the Environmental Studies section at ISA.  We will also have a strong presence at the BISA conference on 18-20 June, where we look forward to meeting as many people as possible. We will be running events throughout the year. Our hope is for these events to be inclusive across geographical location, income, and career stage, so these events will mostly be online and free. Our first event will be in April 2025, and announced soon so watch this space! 

Finally, we will be running a number of blog series that will soon be open to submission. These will be: 

1. Featuring Latest Research and Comment: a platform highlighting recent publications on environment and climate politics with a short description. This platform should ultimately serve as a forum for research/publications on environment and climate politics.
2. Introducing ECRs: a platform for doctoral and early-career researchers in environmental and climate politics to share a bit about themselves and their work;
3. Research Notes: a platform for doctoral and early career researchers working on different aspects of environment and climate politics to write research notes/perspectives on contemporary issues related to climate and environment. These notes should ultimately provide a repository for climate-related research.

How to stay in touch 

We have a Twitter account: https://x.com/BISA_ECPWG 

And a website: https://www.bisa.ac.uk/members/working-groups/ecp

You can also contact us directly at: ecp.group@bisa.ac.uk

Photo by NOAA on Unsplash