Category: ARKTIKO

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“Arctic Energy and Social Sustainability” – New Book by Hanna Lempinen

Our postdoctoral researcher is publishing her new book “Arctic Energy and Social Sustainability”:

In recent years the Arctic has become the focus of political, popular and scholarly debates around the future of our world’s Energy. Increasing consumption, dwindling reserves, climate warming and developing technologies are expected to push energy-related activities ever further into the previously inaccessible north. Within this framework, energy in the Arctic is predominantly understood as synonymous with oil and gas production for international exports; meanwhile, any social sustainability concerns associated with energy-related developments remain largely neglected or reduced to regional socioeconomic concerns.
Lempinen adopts an alternative approach, exploring how energy and its societal aspects are defined and debated in the context of the circumpolar north. Combining an in-depth conceptual discussion on energy and the social dimension of sustainability with an empirical focus on the scientific and political “truths” produced about energy and society in the Arctic energyscape, this book is an enlightening read for students, scholars and professionals interested in issues related to energy and society in the Arctic or beyond.

The book is published by Palgrave Pivot and can be ordered from here.

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EACS2018 – 22nd Biennial Conference

These days The 22nd Biennial Conference of the European Association for Chinese Studies is being held in the University of Glasgow, Scotland. Our researcher Sanna Kopra is presenting today her work titled “Towards growing interdependence, disintegration or a new kind of hegemony? Case China and Arctic futures” at the International Relations panel.

More information on the Conference can be found here.

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Sanna Kopra for Politiikasta

The article “Kiina ja suurvaltojen rooli ilmastopolitiikassa: Palmujokelaisia näkökulmia vastuuseen” (China and the role of great powers in climate politics: Palmujoki’s perspective on responsibility) by Sanna Kopra was published in Politiikasta. In the article Sanna writes about her 2016 dissertation titled “With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility? China and the International Practice of Climate Responsibility” and how the approach suggested by her supervisor Eero Palmujoki was surprising at first, but later proved to be a good idea and shaped her current research direction, for example, in her recently published book.

Read these interesting Sanna’s reflections on her past and future research and her work with the supervisor Eero Palmujoki online.

 

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AI in-house seminar

On 14th of August a seminar “Chin­a’s great power cli­mate re­spons­ib­il­ity”  was held in Aleksanteri Institute, as a part of a new seminar series “New perspectives on Russia”. This presentation gave an introduction to Dr. Sanna Kopra’s new book China and Great Power Responsibility for Climate Change by Routledge, published in August 2018.

Based on a premise that great powers have unique responsibilities in international society, the book explores the way China’s rise to great power status transforms the notions of great power responsibility in general and in the context of international climate politics in particular. The book produces empirical knowledge on the Chinese party–state’s conceptions of state responsibility and the influence of those notions on China’s role in international climate politics. Regarding theory, the book builds on and contributes to the English School of International Relations and argues that the international norm of climate responsibility is an emerging attribute of great power responsibility. The book also discusses the way China will act out its climate responsibility in the future and ponders broader implications of China’s evolving notions of great power responsibility for climate change. Thus, it seeks to shed new light on the transformations China’s rise will yield and the kind of great power China will prove to be.

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Book launch of “China and Great Power Responsibility for Climate Change”

Yesterday a book launch of the Postdoctoral researcher Sanna Kopra’s new book took place at Tiedekulma. The event consisted of the book presentation and a panel discussion, moderated by Research fellow Emma Hakala (Finnish Institute of International Affairs). During the first part, Sanna Kopra presented the book and talked about the main themes it covers, namely how China sees its role in climate leadership.

Then at the panel Professor Veli-Pekka Tynkkynen and Postdoctoral researcher Anna Kronlund  (John Morton -centre, Turku university) discussed the questions of how China, the United States and Russia define the responsibility of the great powers in international climate policy and to what extent are they willing to bear this responsibility now and in the future. Veli-Pekka Tynkkynen presented Russian views on climate change and Anna Kronlund spoke on the USA’s behalf.

After the presentations there was a question and answer session. The audience, which consisted of large number of people, was very engaged and asked good questions. The discussion was vivid and worthwhile.

The book launch was a complete success. It is always pleasant when listeners come to academic events, but is especially valuable when they attend discussions of such topical issues as climate change.

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The GlobalArctic Handbook

“The GlobalArctic Handbook” edited by Matthias Finger and Lassi Heininen was published in July by Springer. Postdoctoral researcher Sanna Kopra wrote a chapter for the volume, titled “Climate Change and China’s Rise to Great Power Status: Implications for the Global Arctic”.

China’s rising great power status will shape the contemporary international order and generate transformation in international practices including in Arctic governance. This chapter investigates China’s emerging great power status and its implications for the Global Arctic, focusing in particular on China’s climate policies. The chapter asks whether and to what extent China’s Arctic engagement is motivated by climate change mitigation.

The book can be ordered here.

 

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China and Great Power Responsibility for Climate Change

Read a new post on Aleksanteri Institute website about Sanna Kopra’s new book China and Great Power Responsibility for Climate Change, published this July.

Based on the premise that great powers have unique responsibilities, this book explores how China’s rise to great power status transforms notions of great power responsibility in general and international climate politics in particular. The author looks empirically at the Chinese party-state’s conceptions of state responsibility, discusses the influence of those notions on China’s role in international climate politics, and considers both how China will act out its climate responsibility in the future and the broader implications of these actions. Alongside the argument that the international norm of climate responsibility is an emerging attribute of great power responsibility, Kopra develops a normative framework of great power responsibility to shed new light on the transformations China’s rise will yield and the kind of great power China will prove to be.

The book presentation will take place on 7th of August at Tiedekulma at the panel discussion ”Suurvaltojen ilmastovastuullisuus”, where Sanna Kopra, Anna Kronlund (John Morton -centre, Turku university) and Veli-Pekka Tynkkynen will participate. The panel will be moderated by Emma Hakala (Finnish Institute of International Affairs). The event has free admission, but please fill in the registration form in advance.

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19th Futures Conference

On 13-14th of June in Tampere the 19th Futures Conference was organized by Finland Futures Research Centre, University of Turku. The conference focused on the futures of sustainable development and energy and was titled ‘ENERGIZING FUTURES – Sustainable Development and Energy in Transition’’.

To understand the challenges of this transition, we need multidisciplinary, multi-level and time-variant analysis of various issues: renewable and non-renewable energy (re)sources, transforming primary energy into energy carriers (fuels, electricity, heat), energy technologies, impacts (environmental, social, economic, institutional, cultural, etc.) of energy use, energy exports and imports, energy markets and energy price, energy end-use patterns and consumer behavior, energy and resource efficiencies, energy policies, and energy governance.

  • What are the main challenges of sustainable energy futures in an era of increasing uncertainty?
  • How to create sustainable energy policies in Europe, and elsewhere in the World?
  • What is the role of futures studies in identifying opportunities for a fair, efficient and resilient energy system?

“Energizing Futures” aims to generate multidisciplinary, stimulating and critical discussions that promote networking between people interested in energy issues from different backgrounds.

Hanna Lempinen was taking part in the session “Renewable energy policies and sustainability in Europe and the World” with a presentation “Sustainability regionalized? Arctic, energy and the elusive Social”. The presentation is available online.

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New book on the Arctic-Barents region with a chapter co-written by Hanna Lempinen

A new volume on the Arctic-Barents region was published in the series Routledge Explorations in the Environmental Studies in the end of May. The book titled  “Society, Environment and Human Security in the Arctic Barents Region” is edited by Kamrul Hossain and Dorothée Cambou. Researcher from our group Hanna Lempinen wrote a chapter “Energy security in the Barents Region: A focus on societal perspectives” for it, together with Dorothée Cambou.

The Arctic-Barents Region is facing numerous pressures from a variety of sources, including the effect of environmental changes and extractive industrial developments. The threats arising out of these pressures result in human security challenges.

This book analyses the formation, and promotion, of societal security within the context of the Arctic-Barents Region. It applies the human security framework, which has increasingly gained currency at the UN level since 1994 (UNDP), as a tool to provide answers to many questions that face the Barents population today. The study explores human security dimensions such as environmental security, economic security, health, food, water, energy, communities, political security and digital security in order to assess the current challenges that the Barents population experiences today or may encounter in the future. In doing so, the book develops a comprehensive analysis of vulnerabilities, challenges and needs in the Barents Region and provides recommendations for new strategies to tackle insecurity and improve the wellbeing of both indigenous and local communities.

This book will be a valuable tool for academics, policy-makers and students interested in environmental and human security, sustainable development, environmental studies and the Arctic and Barents Region in particular.

The book is available for purchase on Routledge website.

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Paper “China, Great Power Management, and Climate Change: Negotiating Great Power Climate Responsibility in the UN” published

Sanna Kopra’s paper “China, Great Power Management, and Climate Change: Negotiating Great Power Climate Responsibility in the UN”, that won the Outstanding Research Paper Award was published as a chapter in the volume “International Organization in the Anarchical Society The Institutional Structure of World Order” edited by Tonny Brems Knudsen and Cornelia Navari. This volume is a part of Palgrave Studies in International Relations.