Redéfinir le problème climatique par l'écoute du local: éléments de propédeutique

Abstract

The disappointing outcomes of international negotiations on climate change are frequently associated with inaction and the consequences of a perceived disconnection between science and politics. However, our experiences and empirical findings based on research carried out in France in highly diverse situations and among very different operators invalidate this thesis. By analysing climate change from the standpoint of territories and local adaptation and mitigation strategies, our article contends that the problem stems instead from a still insufficient fit between local and global levels of expertise and action frameworks. Moreover, we also need to analyse climate change from a new angle and recognise its dual nature in material and objective terms as well as in its cultural, symbolic and subjective components.