International Food Policy Research Institute
sustainable solutions for ending hunger and poverty
Climate change is all about inequality: in who has caused the problem, in who is suffering worst and first from the consequences, and in who is doing something about it. In this policy seminar, Brad Parks will report results from his new book A Climate of Injustice: Global Inequality, North-South Politics, and Climate Policy (2007, MIT Press, co-authored with J. Timmons Roberts). His central argument is that global inequality dampens cooperative efforts by reinforcing the "structuralist" worldviews and causal beliefs of many poor nations, eroding conditions of generalized trust, and promoting particularistic notions of "fair" solutions. He will present new measures of climate-related inequality, analyzing fatality and homelessness rates from hydro-meteorological disasters, patterns of "emissions inequality," and participation in international environmental regimes. His work reveals the importance of how nations are incorporated into the global economy, and what steps will be needed to improve their situations and their willingness to address climate change.
Brad Parks is currently a Development Policy Officer in the Department of Policy and International Relations at the Millennium Challenge Corporation in Washington, DC. While writing this book, he was a Visiting Scholar at the College of William and Mary. The views expressed at this event will be the author’s own and will not necessarily reflect the official views of the Millennium Challenge Corporation.
Mark Rosegrant is Director of IFPRI's Environment and Production Technology Division. He directs research on climate change, water resources, sustainable land management, genetic resources and biotechnology, and agriculture and energy.
"This is a remarkable book. In applying a wide variety of disciplinary approaches--empirical and theoretical, qualitative and quantitative--the authors provide a thorough and truly global understanding of the structural inequalities and injustice that come with contemporary climate politics and disasters. A rich, sophisticated, and balanced study that moves beyond structural explanations and opens horizons for change."
"Roberts and Parks have written an outstanding book that highlights the deep structures of inequality and mistrust that pervade every aspect of the climate regime. It will be essential reading for anyone who wants to understand why the South is increasingly reluctant to join up with the post-Kyoto process."