Climate and Environment

The global climate emergency has now become a part of everyday life, including our own. While floods, heatwaves and droughts become more common, the Global North still only experiences a fraction of the climate emergency, which has become an existential threat to many societies in the Global South. Colonial legacies and continued uneven patterns of development have not only left a polluted atmosphere, but also huge gaps in the capacities to adapt to climate change.

The crisis is also not just limited to a warming climate itself, but accompanied by deforestation, biodiversity loss, ocean acidification and a global waste problem. Climate and environment are ultimately also questions of power and justice as mirrored in the distribution and use of energy, water and agriculture. The crisis is also not just limited to a warming climate itself, but accompanied by deforestation, biodiversity loss, ocean acidification and a global waste problem. Climate and environment are ultimately also questions of power and justice as mirrored in the distribution and use of energy, water and agriculture.

The centre’s research looks at these issues from an inter-disciplinary perspective, across natural sciences, humanities and social sciences, and is strongly linked to our heritage and environmental history themes.