Climate Change and the Endurance of Democracy

Abstract

This book explores the challenges climate change poses to the endurance of democracy, situating this theme within the context of the decline in global freedom documented since the early 21st century. It discusses how disaster events have historically affected human reasoning and agency and how the climate crisis is likely to influence democratic development in the future. Climate extreme events can provide opportunities for autocratic leaders to curtail rights and freedoms, but they can also create critical junctures where the social and political discourse within society is reshaped and where incumbent regimes are contested. The book illustrates how climate change may generate food insecurity, economic recessions and deepen socioeconomic inequalities. These effects may contribute to democratic backsliding but can also create new conditions for social mobilization. The democratic consequences of climate change are thus not primarily determined by the forces of nature, but by human responses and the social, economic and political conditions of the affected country. In the long-term perspective, however, climate change will have several negative effects on democratic stability. The book concludes that for human freedom and democracy to endure, modern society needs to be brought into balance with nature. This volume will be of great interest to students and scholars of climate governance, environmental politics, energy policy and global development.