Capacity for climate change needs knowledge and politics with a difference

ABSTRACT

Even after years of understanding of and engagement with the climate problem, our efforts to address the issue remain wholly inadequate. This essay discusses how limitations in our capacities along three dimensions have hampered our abilities to address climate change. First, we have shown limited capacity to navigate the probabilistic nature of knowledge in this domain and the interplay of knowledge and politics. Simultaneously, there also is a widespread lack of attention to marginalized people and communities and issues of inclusivity. Finally, there is limited capacity to integrate data and knowledge from multiple sources, and include the marginalised and their interests, in the climate discussions and action. Capacity-building for climate change needs to increase our ability to act based on knowledge we have today, connect the dots and integrate multiple forms of data and knowledge, and centre the experiences of those who are most marginalised. Only then can our approach to climate change be rooted, as it must be, in the politics of a common and inclusive future.

Key policy insights

• Capacity building must be rooted in an understanding of key dimensions of the climate arena.

• It is crucial to develop the capability to deal with the probabilistic and disaggregated nature of climate knowledge, and often the politics underlying such knowledge.

• Overcoming marginalization and lack of inclusivity in climate deliberations and action is essential if we are to move towards an integrated and just approach to climate change action.

KEYWORDS:

• Capability building
• climate change
• inclusion
• politics of knowledge
• adaptation
• science and politics

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).