Climate change is no longer a distant threat but a present reality reshaping political institutions and development trajectories worldwide. This panel examines how climate-induced phenomena – sea-level rise, desertification, extreme weather events, biodiversity loss, and others – are altering the relationship between states and their citizens.
Vulnerable populations, particularly in the Global South, face the greatest risks, yet they have the least capacity to adapt. The panel will explore how climate adaptation policies are designed and implemented, who benefits and who is excluded, and how these processes interact with existing patterns of inequality and political marginalization.
The panel also addresses the concept of climate justice as a political development issue. How do historical responsibilities for emissions shape contemporary debates about compensation, technology transfer, and migration? What new forms of governance, from transnational climate clubs to local adaptation committees, are emerging to address these challenges? The discussion will consider how different political systems approach climate adaptation, and whether certain institutional designs are better suited to addressing long-term, intergenerational challenges. By integrating climate science with political development analysis, this panel aims to generate insights that are both theoretically innovative and practically relevant for policymakers and activists working at the intersection of climate and development.
Discussion questions:
What political conditions enable effective and equitable climate adaptation policies?
Are existing democratic institutions capable of addressing the long-term, intergenerational challenges of climate change?
How does climate-induced migration challenge existing frameworks of sovereignty and citizenship?
What role should international climate finance play in supporting adaptation in vulnerable developing countries?
