Global environmental politics

Jonathan Symons

doi:10.1007/978-3-031-51703-7_24-1

Global environmental politics

Jonathan Symons

School of International Studies

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Entry for encyclopedia/dictionary/reference book

Abstract

This entry explores global environmental politics and focuses on three key themes: inequality, pluriversality, and a distinction between intentional and unintentional impacts. The analysis begins in the 1970s, contrasting the newly decolonized South’s push for a New International Economic Order with Western environmentalists’ advocacy for managed “limits to growth.” Next, it traces how formal institutions of global environ mental and climate governance evolved within the context of postcolonial inequality and examines the emergence of the Anthropocene concept from a Cold War scientific imaginary. Finally, it uses the example of decision-making around solar geoengineering to connect the Anthropocene concept to ongoing debates about precaution, harm minimization, and agency in Earth systems governance.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Encyclopedia of the Anthropocene
Editors	Nathanaël Wallenhorst, Christoph Wulf
Place of Publication	Cham, Switzerland
Publisher	Springer, Springer Nature
Pages	1-8
Number of pages	8
ISBN (Electronic)	9783031517037
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-51703-7_24-1
Publication status	Published - 5 Feb 2026

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Global environmental politics

Abstract

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