Of crisis, chance, and choice crafting a new model for climate justice and just transitions in Southwestern China

Abstract

Like the rest of the world, southwestern China faces an unprecedented challenge from the effects of anthropogenic climate change. Densely populated, highly biodiverse, and home to many marginalized communities and ethnic minority groups, the region is both uniquely vulnerable and uniquely positioned to affect a climate transition that delivers justice to all. This thesis first identifies the ecological and human vulnerabilities inherent to southwestern China and how the region experiences climate change, especially its most vulnerable groups. Future risks are also identified based on the expected trajectory of climate change in the coming decades. This thesis then identifies how the Chinese Party-state and society have responded to southwestern China’s vulnerability to climate change, and how the region perceives and implements climate justice and environmental transitions. Case studies from within China and the region are drawn upon with an eye to outline the southwestern Chinese model for just transitions. Finally, a new, inclusive, and holistic model for climate justice and just transitions for southwestern China is built based on case studies from around the world, a dive into the ideological underpinnings of China’s green transition rhetoric, and the challenges faced by the looming regional transition away from coal.