I have two chapters in the recently published book with OpenBook Publishers in Cambridge, ‘Negotiating Climate Change in Crisis: Social Science Perspectives‘. This is a collection of 28 essays written by social scientists, and edited by Steffen Böhm, Exeter Business School, and Sian Sullivan, Bath Spa University.

The first contribution – Chapter 1 – is a re-publishing of a slightly revised essay which first appeared in the journal One Earth in April 2020, ‘One Earth, many futures, no destination’. The second contribution – Chapter 6 – is a new essay lead-authored by one of my PhD students, David Durand-Delacre, together with 13 co-authors, titled ‘Climate migration is about people, not numbers‘. The abstract is pasted below:

“It has become increasingly common to argue that climate change will lead to mass migrations. In this chapter, we examine the large numbers often invoked to underline alarming climate migration narratives. We outline the methodological limitations to their production. We argue for a greater diversity of knowledges about climate migration, rooted in qualitative and mixed methods. We also question the usefulness of numbers to progressive agendas for climate action. Large numbers are used for rhetorical effect to create fear of climate migration, but this approach backfires when they are used to justify security-oriented, anti-migrant agendas. In addition, quantification helps present migration as a management problem with decisions based on meeting quantitative targets, instead of prioritising peoples’ needs, rights, and freedoms.”