The Geography of Climate Justice: Public Forum
12 May 2011

Climate justice concerns how risks and responsibilities for anthropogenic climatic changes is distributed. Recent global policy efforts designed to formalize the burden sharing of climate change consequences have revealed inconsistencies and disagreements in how regions, states and individuals understand their positions and accountability. Nevertheless, the balance of opinion suggests that climate changes will vary considerably and the ability to respond to uneven impacts will also vary extensively both within and between nation states. Over the past decade, concerns about the obvious geographical variations have coalesced around the concept of Climate Justice. It is now an apposite time to reflect more carefully on the ways in which arguments regarding development, mitigation, adaptation, and sovereignty are evolving in this context. The speakers and respondents presenting here are each experts within the broad field of climate change, geography and development; and all engage with difficult issues of justice, politics and difference within their work.

 

 

 

 

 

Forum

 

Thursday 12 May, RIA, Dawson Street

2.00pm-2.10pm Introduction & welcome
Chair - Professor Anna Davies (TCD)

2.10pm-3.20pm Speakers:
Professor Julian Agyeman (Tufts)
Professor Brendan Gleeson (NUIM)
Dr Edward A Page (Warwick)

Respondents:
Dr Edward Lahiff (UCC)
Dr Tara Shine (MRFCJ)
Professor David Taylor (TCD)

3.20pm-4pm Summary and open floor discussion
Chair - Professor Anna Davies (TCD)

4pm-5pm Reception

 

Speakers:

Professor Julian Agyeman, Tufts University

Julian is the Professor and Chair of Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning at Tufts University. He is an environmental social scientist who critically explores the complex and embedded relations between humans and the environment in his research, whether mediated by institutions or social movement organizations. In particular Julian’s work focuses on the nexus between the concepts of environmental justice and sustainability and, specifically, the possibility of a 'just sustainability'.he was a co-founder in 1988, and chair until 1994, of the Black Environment Network (BEN), the first environmental justice-based organization of its kind in Britain.

 

Professor Brendan Gleeson, National University of Ireland, Maynooth

Professor Brendan Gleeson, National University of Ireland Maynooth
Before joining NUI Maynooth in 2011 Brendan Gleeson was Professor of Urban Policy at Griffith University, Director of the Urban Research Program, Griffith University, and a leading commentator on urban issues (social, economic, and environmental) in Australia. Brendan has held a number of public appointments, and was most recently a founding member of Board of the Queensland Government’s Urban Land Development Authority (2007-10). He has published 11 books, individually and with colleagues, and nearly 100 scientific articles and chapters. His most recent book is Lifeboat Cities, published by UNSW Press in 2010.
 

Dr Edward A Page, Warwick University 

Edward is Associate Professor in Political Theory. His doctoral research focused on the problem of justice between generations. Between 2002 and 2004 he was a Marie Curie Research Fellow at Lund University’s Department of Political Science where he pursued research funded by the European Commission on the implications of global climate change for theories of sustainable development and distributive justice. He has published widely on the issues of justice including Climate Change, Justice and Future Generations (Edward Elgar, 2006) and he is an active member of Warwick’s Low Carbon Society Initiative.

Chair
Professor Anna Davies, TRinity College Dublin

Anna is Associate Professor at Trinity College Dublin. She works within the broad area of environmental governance and has published widely in areas as diverse as waste management, environmental values and climate change. Her current research focuses on three intersecting areas, innovation and sustainability, sustainable consumption and climate justice. Anna is a member of the Geographical Sciences Committee of the Royal Irish Academy.
 

Admission is free but places are limited. To book your place please click here:

Further Details:

These events are part of the 2009-2011 workprogramme of the Geographical Sciences Committee. Details of past events in the programme, including an Academy Discourse by Mary Robinson on 20th December 2010, can be found here http://www.ria.ie/News-(1)/Academy-Discourse--Climate-Justice--Challenge-and-.aspx

An introductory resource on Climate Justice has been produced by the Committee and is  available for free download here. A follow-up workshop aimed at establishing a research agenda for Climate Justice within Ireland will be held on the 13th May.  This event was by invitation only however key findings of the workshop will be published on the Committee webpage. For enquiries about the workshop, please contact Gilly at g.clarkeria.ie