October/November 2021
Contents
Cover story
Features
Regulars
8 What COP26 needs to achieve
Markers for the climate change conference, Anna Aberg,
Antony Froggatt Rebecca Peters
Manifesto for a just way forwards Farhana Yamin
Untying the climate funding knot Iseoluwa Akintunde
Climate crisis is a feminist issue Mary Robinson
20 Military Link beween global warming and global warring does not feature on the climate agenda Oliver Belcher 22 Interview The science fiction writer Kim Stanley Robinson on how a Ministry for the Future might work 24 Pollution writ The legal campaigner on how she is using the courts to fight for our children's futureJulia Olson 25 Storms lie ahead Clash of the climate champions will not be for the faint-hearted Bernice Lee 26 US wakes up to climate change Not all Republicans are in denial Daniel Strieff 28 Amazon voters Protection of the rainforest isn't registering with locals Ana Toni & Ana Yang 30 From rivals to allies How China and the West can cooperate on climate change Jiangwen Guo, Fei Teng & Qingchen Chao 31 Bangladesh's plight Global help is needed to counter threat from rising tides Sharif Jamil 32 Paving the way How young Chinese environmentalists are meeting the challenges Emily Venturi & Lucy Ridout 34 Visual arts Climate tapestries by Tali Weinberg 38 Scottish energy The need for a just transition Ewan Gibbs 40 Solar panel's dark side The perils of e-waste Jack Barrie & Melissa MacEwen 41 Wellbeing economy Putting health before wealth Amanda Janoo, Jack Barrie, Ruth Townend & Lisa Hough-Stewart
4 Contributors 5 The world in brief including Jargonbuster and shorts 42 Postcard Flooding in the Himalayas Pasang Yangjee Sherpa @ Laxmi Gurung 45 Date with history Execution of the Niger Delta environmental campaigners Noo Saro-Wiwa 46 Review Q&A with Katharine Hayhoe on tackling climate change Rewiring attitudes towards risk Ludivine Rebet 50 Culture notes Catherine Fieschi Cover by Annu Kipeläinen
From the Editor While the pandemic may have delayed COP by twelve months, the planet has not stood still. The extreme weather events of the past year show that climate change has far outpaced our collective action to date. When global leaders meet in Glasgow, they will be challenged 'to prove our maturity and our mastery – not of nature, but of ourselves,' as Rachel Carson, the mother of the modern environmental movement, said nearly years ago.
Farhana Yamin, the environmental lawyer and climate negotiator, delivers a manifesto for climate justice that, once enacted, will put fairness at the heart of all climate negotiations.
Chatham House’s Anna Aberg, Antony Froggatt and Rebecca Peters lay out three areas where progress must be achieved for Glasgow to be considered a success, while Mary Robinson reminds us that women play a crucial role in all this, and any policy must support their needs.
Can some of the most pivotal countries shape their domestic politics to meet what many see as their global responsibilities? Ana Yang and Ana Toni urge Brazil’s environmental movement to listen to the concerns of Amazonians if it is to have a chance at protecting the rainforest. In the United States, President Biden needs to get his own house in order if his green ambitions are to be credible, writes Daniel Strieff.
Noo Saro-Wiwa traces the recent court victories for the people of the Niger Delta to her father’s execution. In Nepal, climate change related floods have been washing away a way of life, write Pasang Yangjee Sherpa and Laxmi Gurung.
Finally, Kim Stanley Robinson, the science fiction novelist, shares a literary vision of how the Paris Agreement could protect the planet for future generations. Roxanne Escobales rescobales@chathamhouse.org Twi t t e r : @roxy_es c o
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