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A new social contract for the IPCC

Nature Climate Change volume 4, pages 1038–1039 (2014)Cite this article

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To the Editor —

Castree et al.1 call for a new social contract that rethinks global environmental change research. Their “new intellectual climate” would encompass a deeper analysis of societies affecting and affected by global environmental change, as well as incorporating the often-overlooked focus of environmental humanities research on issues of values, rights, perceptions, trust and fear, among many other topics. These innovations hinge on a richer, more invigorated engagement of the environmental social sciences and humanities in global environmental change research, thereby yielding more diverse understandings and perspectives of Earth systems. Castree et al. make excellent points, but their recommendations are unlikely to trigger changes in the climate change community without fundamental restructuring of the IPCC.

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Acknowledgements

This article is based on work supported by the US National Science Foundation under grant 1253779. Thanks to M. Jackson for helpful feedback.

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  1. Robert D. Clark Honors College, University of Oregon, Eugene, 97403, Oregon, USA

    Mark Carey, Lincoln C. James & Hannah A. Fuller

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  1. Mark Carey
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  2. Lincoln C. James
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  3. Hannah A. Fuller
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Correspondence to Mark Carey.

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Carey, M., James, L. & Fuller, H. A new social contract for the IPCC. Nature Clim Change 4, 1038–1039 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate2442

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