The threat of climate disruption is one of the defining political and societal challenges of our time. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has shown that humankind could still limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. Yet there is no doubt that the transformation challenge is huge, that current governmental policies and commitments are insufficient, and that the time window for political action is narrowing each year. This makes effective and just climate policy crucial – as a challenge both politically and for the social sciences.
To take up this challenge, the Taskforce on Climate Governance was formed in 2021 by Frank Biermann, Chukwumerije Okereke, and Kyla Tienhaara. This taskforce strengthens climate policy research within the Earth System Governance community and beyond, and mobilizes the entire breadth and wealth of the network, from the conceptual and theoretical diversity of the hundreds of affiliated ESG scholars to the broad research expertise on other planetary socio-ecological systems beyond climate, such as biodiversity and oceans. The Taskforce on Climate Governance also works closely with the more conceptual taskforces on planetary justice, earth system law, democracy and so forth. The Taskforce on Climate Governance contributes to the Earth System Governance Project in numerous ways, including to its series of conferences, workshops, social media, and its flagship journal and book series.
Relaunch of the Taskforce
The Taskforce on Climate Governance is set to relaunch this September at the 2026 Bath Conference on Earth System Governance. As part of the conference’s Meeting Day (11 September 2026), anyone keen to join this taskforce is invited to attend an exploratory workshop on ‘Climate Governance in 2030’.
Global climate governance has entered a challenging era. Since the 2015 Paris Agreement, socio-ecological, geopolitical, and technological contexts have changed, while established governance continues to fall short in effectively addressing climate change. These shifts signal a need to anticipate emerging challenges and map avenues through which the scholarship and activism of the Earth System Governance community can respond.
During the Meeting Day, the newly re-launched Climate Governance Taskforce will explore these questions. Using the 3Horizons framework, participants will scope governance contexts and challenges (H1), envision changes in climate governance (H3), and map bridging strategies (H2). The insights gathered will inform a journal special issue proposal on emerging challenges and opportunities for climate governance.
Figure – 3H framework, from Schaal and colleagues (2023)
The workshop will be held in-person on 11 September, 2-4pm BST. We invite all members of ESG and beyond to attend, and to join the Climate Taskforce here.
Taskforce Convenors
- Sean Low, Valeria Zambianchi, Kennedy Mbeva
Taskforce Coordinator
- Milena Niesen
Working Groups
The ESG Taskforce on Climate Governance works through smaller networks for issue-specific collaboration. The initial working groups are listed below but new groups will be considered on an ongoing basis.
Decarbonization Working Group
Convenors: Valeria Zambianchi, Ksenia Anisimova, Milena Niesen
Carbon Dioxide Removal Working Group
Convenors: Sean Low, Miranda Boettcher, Frank Biermann