Relations internationales

C17(b) - Climate Change Politics & its Discontents

Date: Jun 5 | Heure: 10:15am to 11:45am | Salle:

Chair/Président/Présidente : Wilfrid Greaves (University of Victoria)

Discussant/Commentateur/Commentatrice : Wilfrid Greaves (University of Victoria)

Social Transformation in the Age of Decarbonization: A Study of EU's Just Transition Mechanism and Social Climate Fund Nicole Morar, University of Toronto Countering Fossil-Fueled Climate Disinformation to Save Democracy Andrew Heffernan, University of Ottawa Theorizing African Agency in the Political Economy of Global Energy Transition Olusola Ogunnubi, Queen's University

Countering Fossil-Fueled Climate Disinformation to Save Democracy: Andrew Heffernan (University of Ottawa)
Abstract: In today's digitally interconnected world, disinformation has emerged as a pervasive and potent force shaping public opinion, political landscapes, and societal perceptions. This working paper unpacks the multifaceted origins of disinformation, exploring its roots in historical, technological, psychological, and socio-political contexts. While the spread of disinformation and misinformation occurs as a result of the actions of millions of both nefarious, as well as unsuspecting actors, the vast majority of disinformation is a product of deliberate, targeted, and well-funded campaigns. By examining the evolution of disinformation and its dissemination mechanisms, the paper aims to offer insights into understanding and combating this dangerous phenomenon. Disinformation campaigns are funded by a variety of actors, including governments, political organizations, corporations, special interest groups, and individuals with vested interests. Fossil fuel companies and petro-states wield significant economic and political influence, leveraging their resources to manipulate public opinion and policy discourse. Through funding biased research, lobbying efforts, and strategic partnerships with media outlets, they sow seeds of doubt regarding the reality and severity of climate change. When vested interests dictate the terms of public debate and policy formulation, the foundational principles of democracy are eroded, jeopardizing the public interest and exacerbating societal divisions. Countering climate disinformation requires a multifaceted approach that includes: global information sharing and collaboration, capacity building and technical assistance, regulatory measures and legal frameworks, engagement with technology platforms, and support for independent journalism and public awareness campaigns.

Theorizing African Agency in the Political Economy of Global Energy Transition: Olusola Ogunnubi (Queen's University), Andrew Grant (Queen's University)
Abstract: Over the last couple of decades, debates among experts and stakeholders to address global warming and promote sustainable energy solutions have progressed steadily with the establishment of two landmark multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs) in the last decade of the 20th century. With the adoption of the Paris Agreement in 2015, more recent conversation has shifted to discussions around the global ‘energy transition’. It is a settled matter that technological change and innovation is pivotal to climate mitigation targets. But while environmental governance regimes have been designed to combat the threat of climate change and encourage states and non-state actors to fulfil their obligations, there has been less consideration for the asymmetric impact and unintended effects of new technologies developed and deployed to actualize this energy transition goal. The glaring absence of clearly stated mechanism to address problems of technology and its impact on natural resource management, is indicative of a defective management of the natural resource sector. The ‘new’ scramble for Africa’s energy resources by extra-regional players both from the Global North and emerging powers is an important empirical juncture to reexamine the agency of resource rich non-western countries. This study pays specific attention to Africa’s response to the impact of the development and deployment of new technological innovations in the natural resource sector that the energy transition is heavily reliant on and looking closely at what this means for a socially and equitable energy transition – just transition. It is in examining the agency of African actors in global energy transition that new insights for effective resource governance mechanism can emerge. My ambition is to centre Africa’s place and role in the geopolitics of global energy transition both in terms of normative policy mechanisms and in the value chain of the resource extractive industry while looping in an alternative body of multidisciplinary literature that helps to conceptually animate the theoretical preference of agential constructivism. I do this by laying out the causal mechanism through which agency is enabled, disabled or constrained by African actors in the geopolitics of energy transition.

Social Transformation in the Age of Decarbonization: A Study of EU's Just Transition Mechanism and Social Climate Fund: Nicole Morar (University of Toronto), Stefan Renckens (University of Toronto)
Abstract: In 2019, the European Commission introduced the European Green Deal (EGD), its most comprehensive and wide-reaching strategy towards carbon neutrality, with the accompanying social objective of “leaving no person behind”. Since its introduction, two primary social instruments have emerged: the Just Transition Mechanism (2021 – 2027) and the Social Climate Fund (2026 – 2032). This paper seeks to examine how two European Green Deal “social packages”, each tasked with mitigating the profound social challenges associated with decarbonization, vary so significantly in both tools and objectives. While the Just Transition Mechanism (JTM) follows a more “traditional” EU approach, focusing on employment, business incentivization and limited regional investments, the Social Climate Fund (SCF) employs innovative revenue-generating mechanisms designed to redistribute income to low-income households, directly addressing energy poverty. Though limited in size and scope, the SCF represents a potential paradigm shift in EU social policy by moving from a predominantly “market-making” approach to a “market-correcting” framework, supplementing household incomes to mitigate the social impact of decarbonization. Drawing on document analysis and interviews with EU policymakers and advisors, this paper explores the underlying reasons for these differences, shedding light on the European Union’s evolving approach to social equity within climate policy. The contributions are twofold: first, in the context of EU social policy—which is often criticized as limited in both ambition and scope—understanding the ideological and political drivers of social policy innovation provides insight into the challenges and potential catalysts for broader EU social policy reform. Second, examining two social policies with distinct tools and objectives within the same policy programme allows for the identification of potential shifts in the EU’s social policy paradigm, with significant implications for EU social policy beyond the European Green Deal.