Abstract
While the Paris Agreement can be hailed as an important milestone for global climate action, addressing the climate challenge by curtailing future emissions remains an important agenda for climate activism. More than before, the climate action movement needs to be strengthened of its campaigns, tactics, and strategies. Despite the heterogeneity of the many actors comprising this movement and the variations in their campaigns, tactics, and strategies, each of these actors can be strengthened in its capacity for a series of and parallel climate actions, in terms of better understanding of climate-related issues, logical response particularly its solutions, and engagement through behavioural changes in consumption and supporting alternatives to fossil-based energy regimes.
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Notes
- 1.
Transnational climate activists (or climate action proponents), following Sidney Tarrow’s (2005) conceptualisation, refer to ‘people and groups who are rooted in specific national contexts, but who engage in contentious political activities that involve them in transnational networks and contacts.’
- 2.
Sceptics of nonviolent social movements may argue that violent insurgencies could provide immediate results and, therefore, are best suited for effective climate actions. Empirical data, however, reveals that nonviolent civil resistance is more successful than violent resistance in terms of historical track records, the degree of popular participation, and the lower levels of suffering (see Gleditsch and Celestino 2013; Chenoweth and Stephan 2011).
- 3.
On 21 September 2014, the power of the networked approach was evidenced in one of the largest gatherings of the climate action movement where 350.org and a number of other organisations coordinated the so-called People’s Climate March . The Guardian reported that the campaign involved an estimated 570,000 people taking part in 2700 simultaneous events in 161 countries. In its culminating activity in the streets of New York, an estimated 400,000 people and 1573 groups were represented, according to the organisers.
- 4.
However, Energiewende also has its shortcomings. Haas and Sander (2016), for instance, suggest—given that the share of renewable energies in total energy consumption is only around 12% and that there have been weak advances in other energy services particularly in heating and transport—it is more than an electricity transition rather than a broader energy transitions. Nonetheless, Energiewende offers an evidence that communities can be key actors in large-scale transformations.
- 5.
Appendix A shows the survey questionnaire; Appendix B provides notes on the research instrument, and statistical treatment and reporting; Appendix C describes the respondents.
- 6.
See Table C.1 for the descriptions of these groups.
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Delina, L.L. (2019). Introduction. In: Climate Actions. Palgrave Pivot, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-91884-6_1
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