Tecnopolíticas das mudanças climáticas: modelos climáticos, geopolítica e governamentalidade

Abstract

Based on an empirical study of climate modeling at Brazil's Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais, the article explores how climate modeling represents a pragmatic government approach in the realm of climate change. The discussion begins with how this pragmatic approach serves the purposes of the geopolitical action of the State within the international framework of global climate knowledge production. It then shows how modeling engenders forms of interpretation of climate change phenomena and future impacts on the local scale and finds expression in governmental rationalities of a biopolitical nature. In short, the discussion is how the technoscience of climate modeling is constructed as a governmental technology and rationality (governmentality) of the State, a process I call the technopolitics of climate change.Keywords: climate change; climate models; geopolitics; governmentality; Brazil. Jean Carlos Hochsprung Miguel 2História, Ciências, Saúde -Manguinhos, Rio de Janeiro 2 História, Ciências, Saúde -Manguinhos, Rio de Janeiro S ince the mid-1980s, definitions and responses to climate issues have been bound up both with a scientific basis for monitoring and forecasting the climate system as well as with a multilateral climate framework negotiated under the auspices of the United Nations (UN). Through research conducted by a growing scientific community in the climate sciences, anthropogenic climate change has been pinpointed as a global issue caused by the burning of fossil fuels and elevated emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG) into the atmosphere. In 1991, this global understanding gained expression in the first report issued by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which has become the body that defined the scientific parameters used in the discussions of global climate policies that are currently transpiring within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).International networks like the UNFCCC and IPCC were forged during a historical process that saw the joint construction of global climate science and climate policy (Miller, 2004). In this still unfolding process, the strategic action of nation-states has played a central role in laying the scientific foundations of climate change and negotiating multilateral political accords (Christoff, Eckersley, 2011;Harris, 2013). Geopolitical aspects of State commitment, or non-commitment, are currently palpable in the rounds of UNFCCC negotiations over proposals to assign distinct responsibilities to developed and developing nations in agreements over GHG emission reduction targets (Kartha, 2011).In IPCC activities, geopolitics plays out in line with the organizational principle of a "balanced geographic representation," that is, the idea of including members from various countries on the panel (IPCC, 2013); geopolitics further manifests itself in the process of selecting and assessing scientific output from member countries for use in reports. While more researchers from developing nations have been incorporat...

Orders of Social Science: Understanding Social-Scientific Controversies and Confluence on What “High-Quality” Knowledge and “Good” Adaptation Is

“…Rather, joint climate research projects are often eyed suspiciously for their goals favoring US over Brazilian interests. While not a subaltern view developing a narrative independent of more powerful actors common in postcolonial scholarship (e.g., Chakrabarty, 2012), Miguel (2017) shows that emerging economies such as Brazil have started to develop their own national climate models in an explicit effort to be more scientifically independent in their national climate policies. Overall, both explicit and implicit postcolonial studies illuminate how neocolonial conceptions of "good" adaptation are manifested in climate models as favoring a distinct perspective on what "high-quality" scientific knowledge is.…”

Mudanças climáticas, ciência e sociedade

“…Esses trabalhos historiográficos permitiram trazer complexidade ao termo "governança climática", que passou a não se referir somente às instituições políticas governamentais ou não governamentais, mas a tratar de um conjunto mais amplo de conhecimentos, técnicas e práticas que constituem uma maneira específica pela qual algo é governado e regulado. Dessa maneira, autores têm discutido como os processos de conhecimento, cálculo e idealização de ações de governo podem ser entendidos como racionalidades governamentais incorporadas em meios técnicos que objetivam certos alvos e ensejam certas práticas de governo das mudanças climáticas (Agrawal, 2005;Braun, 2014;Cavanagh, 2014;Turhan;Zografos;Kallis, 2014;Miguel, 2017).…”

O painel brasileiro de mudanças climáticas na interface entre ciência e políticas públicas: identidades, geopolítica e concepções epistemológicas

“…Assim, o modelo brasileiro seria de interesse estratégico para o Estado para poder simular o futuro sem depender de países do Norte. O modelo, portanto, teria uma função geopolítica (Miguel, 2017). Essa compreensão da ciência como estratégica e como tendo uma função geopolítica demonstra que cientistas vinculados ao desenvolvimento do BESM estavam cientes do caráter situado da ciência, apesar de ser uma visão sobre a situacionalidade muito mais fraca do que aquela que embasa o CPBMC e do grupo do formulador de políticas que o concebeu.…”

“…O IPCC, portanto, não faz pesquisa original, mas revisa a literatura e busca sintetizar os principais pontos de consenso e as incertezas nas ciências das mudanças climáticas. As conclusões do IPCC foram responsáveis, em larga medida, pela formação de um consenso entre governos e formuladores de políticas públicas a respeito da realidade e do risco das mudanças no clima ( Este trabalho insere-se na literatura dos Estudos Sociais das Ciências e Tecnologias (ESCT), em particular aquela que nos últimos quinze anos vem estudando a interface entre as ciências e políticas climáticas no Brasil (Lahsen, 2004;2009;Cuperstein, 2015;Miguel, 2017;Bailão, no prelo). Ele focaliza esses dois projetos distintos para o PBMC para compreender as diferentes representações sobre a geopolítica climática e as concepções epistemológicas que os embasam, assim como as diferentes instituições e identidades que procuram produzir.…”