Nature-Culture Dualism in International
Climate Change Discussions
Elise Downing
Indigenous Peoples and Climate Change
Conference
University of Oregon
May 2012
Overview
• How does society define nature?
• How is our social conception of nature visible
in international climate change governing
documents?
– United Nations Framework Convention on Climate
Change (UNFCCC)
– UNFCCC Kyoto Protocol
– Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
Report of 2007
Nature and People
• Separation between humans and nature is
part of cultural history of the West
– Development of the city
– Systems of Knowledge
– Legal and Government Institutions
• Human-Nature Dualism or Nature-Culture
Dualism
“Anthropogenic Climate Change”
• Human caused shifts in how the global climate
system functions
• Contradicts human-nature dualism
On the International Stage
Continued human-nature separation in:
– Language
– Structure
– Content
Language
• UNFCCC ““Adverse effects of CC” means
changes in the physical environmental or biota
resulting from CC which have significant
deleterious effects on the composition
resilience or productivity of natural and
managed ecosystems or on the operations of
socio-economic systems or on human health
and welfare
Structure and Organization
IPCC Report 2007, Summary for Policy Makers, p 16.
Content, Science, Carbon Emissions
• Kyoto Protocol, Article 10, discussing adaptation
“c. Cooperate in the promotion of effective
modalities for the development, application and
diffusion of, and take all practicable steps to
promote, facilitate and finance, as appropriate,
the transfer of, or access to, environmentally
sound technologies, know-how, practices and
processes pertinent to climate change”
Conclusions
• Yes: Human systems are affected by climate
change.
• No: Humans fundamentally live within
environmental constraints.
• Yes: Humans are changing the climate with
carbon and GHG emissions
• No: Humans influence the climate and
environment outside of those factors.
Conclusions
Dualism > Holism
Anthropogenic Climate Change
=
Carbon Emissions