Poverty, Environment and Climate Change
WORKSHOP organised by CLACSO-CROP Programme on Studies of Poverty in Latin America, the Caribbean, with the Centre for Psychological and Sociological Research, and the Antonio Núñez Jimenez Foundation for Nature and Man
The growing interaction between poverty, environment and climate change, calls for research to reframe the relationships between nature and society, development, consumption and equity at various scales, from local to global. The combined effects of pervasive poverty, extreme inequalities, environmental degradation and already visible impacts of climate change in Latin America and the Caribbean have created an emergency situation that calls for a renewed focus on critical poverty research and structural change. In this workshop, the CLACSO-CROP Programme aimed to explore some aspects of this problem, from multiple perspectives, through empirical and conceptual contributions, and with the aim of bringing forward new visions for addressing both fair and pro-poor mitigation and adaptation strategies as well as suitable new poverty eradication strategies.
106 persons used the on-line application system. From these 75 abstracts from 23
countries, including Barbados, Ethiopia, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka and the U.S. were
received. The international academic committee consisting of Elizabeth Jiménez,
(CIDES/UMSA) Bolivia; Arturo Fernández, (FANJNH), Cuba; Héctor Sejenovich,
(University of Buenos Aires), Argentina and Asunción St. Clair, (CROP), Norway,
selected twenty one (21) papers for presentation and discussion. The nineteen (19)
authors presenting at the workshop included researchers from Argentina, Barbados, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, Chile, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and the U.S.
A publication based on a selection of the best papers is currently underway. The co-editors for the volume are Mayra Espina, CIPS, Cuba; Héctor Sejenovich, UBA, Argentina and Gian Carlo Delgado, UNAM, Mexico.
This workshop was linked to the 2009 fellowship call, allowing the programme to lead, in the region, the debate on social effects of climate change. The relevance of the topic and the quality of presentations make it possible to influence both in the regional and the international debate. One indicator of this relevance was the invitation made by the International Social Science Council to participate in the organizing committee of the “Belmont Forum Agenda Setting Workshop to be held in Paris this year. In this way, the CLACSO-CROP programme reinforced the strategies of both CROP and the Area of International Relations of CLACSO, aimed to include the social aspects of climate change as a priority of the international research community.
Public Meeting: "Climate Change: Social and Environmental Challenges"
As part of the workshop “Poverty, Environment and Climate Change” a public meeting was organized, in cooperation with UNESCO and the Cátedra del Caribe de la Universidad de La Habana, at the University of Havana. The panelists examined the complex situation climate change poses to the planet and the adaptation and mitigation efforts undertaken. The panel also looked at the work of social movements in dealing with the challenges of climate change.
Panelists included Héctor Sejenovich, University of Buenos Aires, Argentina, and lead author on the IPCC Report “Climate Change 2007”; Asuncion Lera St. Clair, University of Bergen, Norway and Scientific Director of CROP (2009-10) and Guillermo Castro, Academic Director, Ciudad del Saber, Panamá. The panel was moderated by Gilberto Javier Cabrera from the University of Havana.
