‘The possibility cannot be ignored’: climate futures and strategic securitizations of atmospheric resources since the 1970s

The presentation explores the political securitization of climate (and climate change) in relation to the science/policy consultations following the 1970s climate/food shocks (eg CIA climate report 1974) and the series of international conferences on climatic change during the early 1980s. These events introduced ‘the future of climate’ as a key variable in economic planning and policy regulations of global atmospheric resources. Anticipatory tools such as climate modelling, mid-range forecasting, integrated assessment and scenario-building framed climate as a long-term socio-political hazard, resulting in the quasi-normative assumption of climatic (neo)determinism and environmental vulnerability that continue to shape current climate policies and public imaginaries of climatic futures.

Part of the ‘Anticipating Futures in a Complex World’ interdisciplinary seminar series. The seminars will identify, explore and evaluate the substantive and methodological challenges of anticipating the future in a complex world, keeping in mind that the future remains a category far more than an ontological dimension.

Events are FREE but please reserve a place on Eventbrite

For more information, please contact Katy Wright k.j.wright@leeds.ac.uk³ or Sebastien Nobert s.nobert@leeds.ac.uk⁴

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