Reach deep into the heart of values and cultures

‘Responding to climate change requires that we engage with a host of complex and interwoven ethical and political issues that reach deep into the heart of values and cultures
that are often diverse and conflicting. Contemporary Climate Change Debates provides
unique insights into how and why we come to disagree about the ways in which climate
change can be resolved, and will be essential reading for students grappling with these
challenging questions.’
—Harriet Bulkeley, Professor of Geography, Durham University, UK
‘With public debate over climate change frozen over “matters of fact”, Mike Hulme
offers essays that debate both sides of “matters of concern”. The paired essays show
reason on both sides of each question. They show what a rational global debate about
climate change would actually look like. And they show that such a debate may actually
be possible. This is a unique and hopeful book, which belongs in the library of all students and scholars of climate change.’
—Michael Dove, Margaret K. Musser Professor of Social Ecology,
Yale University, USA
‘Neither apocalyptic, nor passive towards the most challenging problem for humanity,
this book opens a real international and interdisciplinary deliberation about responses to
climate change. Solving climate warming is more about matters of concern, about different and shared responsibilities, than it is about matters of fact and the mechanics of
energy transitions. Hulme’s book encompasses different aspects of the ethical and political debates in a pluralistic way, and offers a good basis for understanding argument and
action in our polarized democracies, especially for the younger generation.’
—Bernard Reber, Research Director (political sciences),
CNRS, Sciences Po, Paris, France
‘Hulme and the contributors to Contemporary Climate Change Debates see climate
change for what it really is: a political problem, not a scientific one. The science is as
certain as it’s ever going to be. What students need is a framework for understanding
how their values—and the values of well-intentioned others who disagree with them—
attach to climate science to produce policy. And that is precisely what this book provides.’
—Lynda Walsh, Associate Professor of English, University of Nevada, USA
‘This collection of climate change debates constitutes a timely contribution edited by
Mike Hulme, one of the most renowned scholars in climate research, who brings
together the necessary cross-disciplinary perspectives. Following up his seminal book
Why We Disagree About Climate Change, Hulme here undertakes the innovative initiative of bringing in voices of both established and emerging scholars, a very promising
move for informative and constructive dialogues.’
—Kjersti Fløttum, Professor of Linguistics, University of Bergen, Norway
‘At a time when climate change denial has become a deliberate distraction by vested
interests rather than a good faith intellectual engagement, this book offers a refreshing
take on decision-making amidst complexity. These are the climate change debates we
need to have—not, “is it happening?”, but “what are we going to do about it?” M