IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/pophec/v23y2024i3p230-251.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Collapse, social tipping dynamics, and framing climate change

Author

Listed:
  • Daniel Steel

    (8166University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada)

  • Kian Mintz-Woo

    (8795University College Cork, Cork, Ireland
    31362International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, Laxenburg, Austria)

  • C. Tyler DesRoches

    (Arizona State University, Arizona, USA)

Abstract

In this article, we claim that recent developments in climate science and renewable energy should prompt a reframing of debates surrounding climate change mitigation. Taken together, we argue that these developments suggest (1) global climate collapse in this century is a non-negligible risk, (2) mitigation offers substantial benefits to current generations, and (3) mitigation by some can generate social tipping dynamics that could ultimately make renewables cheaper than fossil fuels. We explain how these claims undermine familiar framings of climate change, wherein mitigation is understood as self-sacrifice that individuals and governments must be morally persuaded or incentivized to undertake.

Suggested Citation

  • Daniel Steel & Kian Mintz-Woo & C. Tyler DesRoches, 2024. "Collapse, social tipping dynamics, and framing climate change," Politics, Philosophy & Economics, , vol. 23(3), pages 230-251, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:pophec:v:23:y:2024:i:3:p:230-251
    DOI: 10.1177/1470594X231196432
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1470594X231196432
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/1470594X231196432?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mikael Karlsson & Eva Alfredsson & Nils Westling, 2020. "Climate policy co-benefits: a review," Climate Policy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 20(3), pages 292-316, March.
    2. Scott Barrett & Astrid Dannenberg, 2017. "Tipping Versus Cooperating to Supply a Public Good," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 15(4), pages 910-941.
    3. Winkelmann, Ricarda & Donges, Jonathan F. & Smith, E. Keith & Milkoreit, Manjana & Eder, Christina & Heitzig, Jobst & Katsanidou, Alexia & Wiedermann, Marc & Wunderling, Nico & Lenton, Timothy M., 2022. "Social tipping processes towards climate action: A conceptual framework," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 192(C).
    4. Tavoni, Alessandro & Dannenberg, Astrid & Kallis, Giorgos & Löschel, Andreas, 2011. "Inequality, communication and the avoidance of disastrous climate change," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 37570, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    5. Noah Scovronick & Mark Budolfson & Francis Dennig & Frank Errickson & Marc Fleurbaey & Wei Peng & Robert H. Socolow & Dean Spears & Fabian Wagner, 2019. "The impact of human health co-benefits on evaluations of global climate policy," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 10(1), pages 1-12, December.
    6. Nicholas Stern, 2022. "A Time for Action on Climate Change and a Time for Change in Economics," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 132(644), pages 1259-1289.
    7. L. Samaniego & S. Thober & R. Kumar & N. Wanders & O. Rakovec & M. Pan & M. Zink & J. Sheffield & E. F. Wood & A. Marx, 2018. "Anthropogenic warming exacerbates European soil moisture droughts," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 8(5), pages 421-426, May.
    8. Jeremy S. Pal & Elfatih A. B. Eltahir, 2016. "Future temperature in southwest Asia projected to exceed a threshold for human adaptability," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 6(2), pages 197-200, February.
    9. Simon Sharpe & Timothy M. Lenton, 2021. "Upward-scaling tipping cascades to meet climate goals: plausible grounds for hope," Climate Policy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 21(4), pages 421-433, April.
    10. Taciano L. Milfont & Elena Zubielevitch & Petar Milojev & Chris G. Sibley, 2021. "Ten-year panel data confirm generation gap but climate beliefs increase at similar rates across ages," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 12(1), pages 1-8, December.
    11. Michaël Aklin & Matto Mildenberger, 2020. "Prisoners of the Wrong Dilemma: Why Distributive Conflict, Not Collective Action, Characterizes the Politics of Climate Change," Global Environmental Politics, MIT Press, vol. 20(4), pages 4-27, Autumn.
    12. Drew Shindell & Christopher J. Smith, 2019. "Climate and air-quality benefits of a realistic phase-out of fossil fuels," Nature, Nature, vol. 573(7774), pages 408-411, September.
    13. Oliver D. Bettis & Simon Dietz & Nick G. Silver, 2017. "The risk of climate ruin," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 140(2), pages 109-118, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Geels, Frank W. & Ayoub, Martina, 2023. "A socio-technical transition perspective on positive tipping points in climate change mitigation: Analysing seven interacting feedback loops in offshore wind and electric vehicles acceleration," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 193(C).
    2. Ayoub, Martina & Geels, Frank W., 2024. "What happens after positive tipping points? A socio-technical analysis of acceleration and deceleration in solar-PV diffusion in Germany and the UK," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 207(C).
    3. Eder, Christina & Stadelmann-Steffen, Isabelle, 2023. "Bringing the political system (back) into social tipping relevant to sustainability," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 177(C).
    4. Castro-Santa, Juana & Moros, Lina & Exadaktylos, Filippos & Mantilla, César, 2024. "Early climate mitigation as a social dilemma," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 224(C), pages 810-824.
    5. Réka Juhász & Nathan Lane, 2024. "The Political Economy of Industrial Policy," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 38(4), pages 27-54, Fall.
    6. Sibel Eker & Charlie Wilson & Niklas Hohne & Mark S. McCaffrey & Irene Monasterolo & Leila Niamir & Caroline Zimm, 2023. "A dynamic systems approach to harness the potential of social tipping," Papers 2309.14964, arXiv.org.
    7. Schulze, M. & Janssen, M. & Aschemann-Witzel, J., 2024. "How to move the transition to sustainable food consumption towards a societal tipping point," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 203(C).
    8. Penny Mealy & Pete Barbrook-Johnson & Matthew C Ives & Sugandha Srivastav & Cameron Hepburn, 2023. "Sensitive intervention points: a strategic approach to climate action," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 39(4), pages 694-710.
    9. Astrid Dannenberg & Carlo Gallier, 2020. "The choice of institutions to solve cooperation problems: a survey of experimental research," Experimental Economics, Springer;Economic Science Association, vol. 23(3), pages 716-749, September.
    10. Andreas Löschel & Dirk Rübbelke, 2014. "On the Voluntary Provision of International Public Goods," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 81(322), pages 195-204, April.
    11. Bouma, J.A. & Nguyen, Binh & van der Heijden, Eline & Dijk, J.J., 2018. "Analysing Group Contract Design Using a Lab and a Lab-in-the-Field Threshold Public Good Experiment," Discussion Paper 2018-049, Tilburg University, Center for Economic Research.
    12. Nicolas Taconet & Aurélie Méjean & Céline Guivarch, 2020. "Influence of climate change impacts and mitigation costs on inequality between countries," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 160(1), pages 15-34, May.
    13. Carattini, Stefano & Fankhauser, Sam & Gao, Jianjian & Gennaioli, Caterina & Panzarasa, Pietro, 2023. "What does network analysis teach us about international environmental cooperation?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 205(C).
    14. J. Doyne Farmer & John Geanakoplos & Matteo G. Richiardi & Miquel Montero & Josep Perelló & Jaume Masoliver, 2024. "Discounting the Distant Future: What Do Historical Bond Prices Imply about the Long-Term Discount Rate?," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 12(5), pages 1-25, February.
    15. Brekke, Kjell Arne & Konow, James & Nyborg, Karine, 2017. "Framing in a threshold public goods experiment with heterogeneous endowments," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 138(C), pages 99-110.
    16. Pere Quintana-Seguí & Anaïs Barella-Ortiz & Sabela Regueiro-Sanfiz & Gonzalo Miguez-Macho, 2020. "The Utility of Land-Surface Model Simulations to Provide Drought Information in a Water Management Context Using Global and Local Forcing Datasets," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 34(7), pages 2135-2156, May.
    17. Doruk İriş & Jungmin Lee & Alessandro Tavoni, 2015. "Delegation and public pressure in a threshold public goods game: theory and experimental evidence," GRI Working Papers 186, Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment.
    18. Jordi Solé, 2023. "Climate and Energy Crises from the Perspective of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change: Trade-Offs between Systemic Transition and Societal Collapse?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-15, January.
    19. Ghidoni, Riccardo & Calzolari, Giacomo & Casari, Marco, 2017. "Climate change: Behavioral responses from extreme events and delayed damages," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(S1), pages 103-115.
    20. Gangadharan, Lata & Nikiforakis, Nikos & Villeval, Marie Claire, 2017. "Normative conflict and the limits of self-governance in heterogeneous populations," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 143-156.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:pophec:v:23:y:2024:i:3:p:230-251. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.