New research network spotlights obstruction to climate change action

Understanding and combating obstacles to progress

CSSN staff, affiliated scholars, and students work together to conduct peer-reviewed research into the institutional and cultural dynamics of political conflicts around climate change. They communicate the results of this research to policymakers and the wider public, and seek to educate the political, legal, and media communities about the effects this misinformation and obstruction will have on our planet for years to come.

The network engages established and early-career social scientists from Spain, Japan, Sweden, Canada, Germany, Australia, Brazil, Finland, the U.K., the Netherlands, and Taiwan in addition to several U.S. scholars both at and beyond Brown.

“We knew the network needed to be global,” says Roberts. “Studying climate denial has typically been a U.S.-dominated area because there is such a strong effort here, but it also happens in other countries around the world. It just looks different.”

Some recent works by CSSN scholars examine the agriculture industry in the U.S. and the U.K., the influence of the oil industry in Canada, and think tanks in Europe that model their discourse on that of U.S. climate change-denying organizations. As the network recruits more scholars from both industrialized nations and developing countries, Roberts hopes that they will be able to learn from one another and apply observations about how climate denial and obstruction plays out in diverse settings.

Promoting innovative research and collaborative communities

The Climate Social Science Network is just one of many efforts to address diverse aspects of climate change through IBES. The institute raised more than $11 million for its work last year from alumni, parents, and friends, and the scope of its contributions ranges from conservation and land-change science to the health consequences of shifts in our physical environment.

“IBES is an exceptional organization that approaches climate change through multiple perspectives,” says Brulle, who was recruited to Brown following a career of teaching and research at institutions in Virginia, Pennsylvania, Germany, and Sweden. “This integrated perspective allows for fruitful collaborations of natural and social scientists in working on this issue together. It also enhances the depth of social science contributions to the climate change discussion.”

Donors are attracted to IBES’s mission of bringing together scholars from a variety of disciplines to both uncover crucial insights about our interactions with the environment and devise effective strategies to accelerate climate action. The donors supporting the CSSN, in particular, are helping to advance research that could potentially lead to the removal of obstructions from an array of industries, including utilities companies and real estate.

“Donor involvement has been absolutely critical,” says Brulle. “Academic work is usually conducted in isolated silos, without much collaboration. We knew that there were a larger number of scholars engaged in researching this topic, but they were not connected. This funding has allowed us to create a strong and effective community.”

The steady growth of this network will allow Brown to involve more students in original research and develop a new generation of scholars who choose this focus area in hopes of having an enduring impact on society.

“Ultimately, we want to make it less acceptable to be part of organizations that are creating this misinformation and delay in solutions,” says Roberts. “I think people have seen that you can do as much science as you want, but if you are not defending that science and addressing the people who are undermining that science, then your science isn’t going to have any impact at all on public policy.”