The Heyman Center, Second Floor Common Room, Columbia University
The Society of Fellows and Heyman Center for the Humanities
Institute for Comparative Literature and Society (ICLS), Tamer Institute for Social Enterprise and Climate Change
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A roundtable discussion of this new volume and the current challenges facing the climate justice movement.
Climate change is not only an environmental crisis but also a catalyst for worsening socioeconomic inequalities, leading to widespread calls for “climate justice.” Even though this term has become increasingly common, there remains no universally accepted definition. This challenge is compounded by the limitations of traditional scholarly frameworks, which struggle to encompass the dynamic and pervasive impact of the climate crisis across global, national, and local levels. The scope of the crisis requires ethical, social, and political considerations alongside scientific and environmental insights in order to shape equitable responses by states and societies.
This multidisciplinary book offers a comprehensive exploration of debates on climate justice across the natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities. Synthesizing these divergent approaches, it develops a new conceptual framework that transcends disciplinary divides, providing a deeper and richer understanding of climate justice. Contributors make an urgent case that climate justice must be centered within and across disciplines, creating a roadmap for multidisciplinary research and pedagogy on the climate crisis. Featuring a wide range of voices and actionable recommendations, this timely book illuminates how scholarship on climate change can become a call to action.
About the Editors
Rebecca Marwege is an assistant professor of environmental politics at the American University of Paris. She previously served as the junior director of the Columbia Climate School Earth Network on Decarbonization, Climate Resilience, and Climate Justice.
Nikhar Gaikwad is an assistant professor of political science and a member of the Committee on Global Thought at Columbia University. He is the senior founding codirector of the Columbia Climate School Earth Network on Decarbonization, Climate Resilience, and Climate Justice.
Joerg Schaefer is Lamont Research Professor in the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and adjunct professor of earth and environmental sciences at Columbia University. He is the senior founding codirector of the Columbia Climate School Earth Network on Decarbonization, Climate Resilience, and Climate Justice.
Speakers
Karenna Gore is the founder and executive director of the Center for Earth Ethics and teaching professor of practice of earth ethics at Union Theological Seminary in New York. Karenna formed CEE in 2015 to address the moral and spiritual dimensions of the climate crisis. Working at the intersection of faith, ethics, and ecology, she guides the Center’s public programs, educational initiatives, and movement-building. She is an adjunct faculty member at the Columbia Climate School.
Jennifer Hadden is Associate Professor of Political Science and International and Public Affairs at Brown University. Dr. Hadden conducts research on the politics of climate change, with a focus on NGOs and social movements. Dr. Hadden’s first book — titled Networks in Contention: The Divisive Politics of Global Climate Change — was published by Cambridge University Press in 2015. It received four book awards from the American Political Science Association and the International Political Science Association. Her second book with Sarah Bush — titled Crowded Out: The Competitive Landscape of Contemporary International NGOs — was published in 2025 and is available in open access from Cambridge University Press.
Emily H. G. Cooperdock is Assistant Professor in the Department of Earth, Environmental & Planetary Sciences at Brown University. Her research focuses on the role that exhumation and fluid-rock interactions have on tectonic and geochemical processes. She is also interested in the history of diversity in the geosciences and efforts to make the discipline more inclusive.
Michael Brownstein is Professor and Chair of Philosophy at John Jay College and Professor of Philosophy at The Graduate Center, CUNY. His research focuses on the intersection of science, ethics, and social change. He is the co-author of Somebody Should Do Something: The Science and Stories of Social Change (MIT 2025), The Implicit Mind: Cognitive Architecture, the Self, and Ethics (Oxford 2018) and co-editor of the two-volume series, Implicit Bias and Philosophy (OUP 2016).
