The initial question posed by Steig and Oels in their new paper is: If the UN climate conferences contribute so little to solving the climate problem, what are they doing instead?

Steig and Oels compile the findings of over 100 contributions from governmentality research on this question. Exactly 20 years after Prof. Oels' first contribution to this field of research, which she co-founded, this review paper takes stock of the situation. Steig and Oels show how the voluntary and self-determined nature of the national climate protection contributions under the Paris Climate Agreement lead to a system of organized irresponsibility. In the area of climate adaptation, the authors explain how technocratic futures are being predetermined instead of openly addressing the politically contentious question of how we want to live with climate impacts in the future. In the area of unavoidable climate impacts, Steig and Oels show how damage and losses are being normalized, naturalized, and thus depoliticized.?

Those affected by damage are advised to become more resilient without receiving reparations or support. In this way, climate change is dealt with politically in a complex manner without ever addressing the causes (including fossil fuels and deforestation). The authors attest that this form of problem management has only been successfully challenged and exposed by social movements and climate lawsuits.

The full version is available for open access? here.

?

?

?