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Steps to overcome the North–South divide in research relevant to climate change policy and practice

Nature Climate Change volume 7, pages 21–27 (2017)Cite this article

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Abstract

A global North–South divide in research, and its negative consequences, has been highlighted in various scientific disciplines. Northern domination of science relevant to climate change policy and practice, and limited research led by Southern researchers in Southern countries, may hinder further development and implementation of global climate change agreements and nationally appropriate actions. Despite efforts to address the North–South divide, progress has been slow. In this Perspective, we illustrate the extent of the divide, review underlying issues and analyse their consequences for climate change policy development and implementation. We propose a set of practical steps in both Northern and Southern countries that a wide range of actors should take at global, regional and national scales to span the North–South divide, with examples of some actions already being implemented.

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Figure 1: Affiliations of first authors of scientific papers published in 2000–2014 in relation to countries' economic status and by country.
Figure 2: Affiliations of authors of scientific articles about climate change in relation to countries' economic status.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank A. Engelmann and M. Stråhle from the SLU University Library for the help with the bibliographic analysis.

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Author notes

  1. Malgorzata Blicharska and Richard J. Smithers: These authors contributed equally to this work

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth Sciences, Natural Resources and Sustainable Development, Uppsala University, Uppsala, 75236, Sweden

    Malgorzata Blicharska & Magdalena Kuchler

  2. Swedish Biodiversity Centre, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden

    Malgorzata Blicharska

  3. Ricardo Energy & Environment, Harwell, Didcot, UK

    Richard J. Smithers

  4. GRADE (Global Research Arch for Developing Education) Academy, Pvt. Ltd, Birguni, Nepal

    Ganesh K. Agrawal

  5. Universidad de Costa Rica, Instituto Clodomiro Picado, Facultad de Microbiología, San José, Costa Rica

    José M. Gutiérrez

  6. Department of Chemistry, Kenyatta University, Nairobi, Kenya

    Ahmed Hassanali

  7. International Centre for Climate Change & Development, Independent University, Bangladesh, Dhaka, Bangladesh

    Saleemul Huq

  8. Department of Psychology, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil

    Silvia H. Koller

  9. Centre for Studies in Social Sciences Calcutta, Calcutta, India

    Sugata Marjit

  10. Tanzania Commission for Science and Technology, Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania

    Hassan M. Mshinda

  11. University of Malaya, Faculty of Engineering, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

    Hj Hassan Masjuki

  12. Center for Studies of Sensory Impairment, Aging and Metabolism, Guatemala City, 01011, Guatemala

    Noel W. Solomons

  13. Research Centre for Plant Growth and Development, School of Life Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal Pietermaritzburg, South Africa

    Johannes Van Staden

  14. School for Forest Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Skinnskatteberg, 73921, Sweden

    Grzegorz Mikusiński

Authors
  1. Malgorzata Blicharska
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  2. Richard J. Smithers
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  3. Magdalena Kuchler
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  4. Ganesh K. Agrawal
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  5. José M. Gutiérrez
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  6. Ahmed Hassanali
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  7. Saleemul Huq
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  8. Silvia H. Koller
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  9. Sugata Marjit
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  10. Hassan M. Mshinda
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  11. Hj Hassan Masjuki
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  12. Noel W. Solomons
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  13. Johannes Van Staden
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  14. Grzegorz Mikusiński
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Contributions

M.B., R.J.S., G.M. initiated the study; G.M. conducted the analysis with help of M.B. and R.J.S.; M.B. and R.J.S. wrote the paper and contributed equally to this work. All other authors contributed to the text, and provided practical examples for inclusion in the article.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Grzegorz Mikusiński.

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Competing interests

The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Blicharska, M., Smithers, R., Kuchler, M. et al. Steps to overcome the North–South divide in research relevant to climate change policy and practice. Nature Clim Change 7, 21–27 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate3163

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate3163

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