La política ambiental internacional y el discurso del papa Francisco: ¿hacia una ecología del pueblo?/ International Environmental Politics and the Discourse of Pope Francis: Towards an Ecology of the People?

Resumen Numerosas reacciones y polémicas ha generado el discurso del papa Francisco en el campo de la política ambiental, en especial desde la aparición en 2015 de la encíclica “Alabado Seas: sobre el Cuidado de la Casa Común” (Laudato Si´). En ese marco, el presente artículo, en primer lugar, identifica las principales lógicas o gramáticas que han intervenido en las discusiones político-ideológicas en torno a la causa ambiental en las últimas décadas, a escala latinoamericana y mundial. En segundo lugar, ubica y caracteriza al discurso del papa Francisco en tal contexto. El enfoque utilizado es el del análisis político del discurso. Fundado en el reconocimiento del carácter constitutivamente antagónico de las sociedades, este se orienta a la comprensión crítica de las prácticas sociodiscursivas, enfatizando en sus instancias políticas o momentos fundacionales. El argumento central del artículo es que el posicionamiento de Francisco, mientras se distingue de la lógica desarrollista, es antagónico respecto de las posturas neomalthusiana y neoliberal. Al mismo tiempo, se aproxima a la ecología crítica, modulándola tanto en relación con el rol de las corporaciones transnacionales como con la crítica al paradigma tecnocrático y la incorporación de la noción de pueblo. Abstract Pope Francis’ discourse in the field of environmental policy has recently generated numerous reactions and controversies, especially since the appearance in 2015 of the Encyclical “(Praise be to you - On Care for Our Common Home” (Laudato Si '). In that framework, this article firstly identifies the main logics or grammars that have intervened in the political-ideological discussions around the environmental cause in recent decades, on a Latin American and world scale. In the second place, the discourse of Pope Francis is located and characterized in that context. The approach in which this work is inscribed is the analysis of political discourse. Based in the recognition of the constitutively antagonistic character of societies, it is oriented to the critical understanding of socio-discursive practices, emphasizing in their political instances or foundational moments. The central argument of the article is that Francisco's positioning, while differing from the developmentalist logic, is antagonistic to neo-Malthusian and neoliberal positions. At the same time, it approaches critical ecology, modulating it both in relation to the role of transnational corporations and in criticizing the technocratic paradigm and incorporating the notion of the people.

Complex Governance for the Anthropocene

The Anthropocene presents formidable governance challenges, not only in terms of the large uncertainties that surround the impact of humans on the biosphere, but also because it is occurring at a time of profound transformations in international politics. This article builds on the recent literature on complex systems and international environmental politics and identifies some of the core elements of thinking about governance in the Anthropocene. After a brief reminder of the characteristics of a complex system and the challenges that this poses to some of the existing doxa, it proceeds with a discussion of key elements of the system, of aspects of its operation, and of the goals that one should pursue in terms of system dynamics. Approaching the governance of the Anthropocene as a complex system allows us to shape much of current research in IR into a coherent whole, as well as identify the contours of a global international governance system of the environment that takes advantage of the dynamics of the system rather than courting failure by attempting to simplify it.

China’s summons for environmental sociology

From demand for natural resources to sustainability initiatives, everything seems to hinge on China. China’s environmental entanglements call out for the analysis and understanding that environmental sociologists practice. Environmental sociologists from within and beyond China have begun to explore how society, polity, and ecology intersect, but we have yet to fully take on the challenges that China’s environmental struggles pose. This article focuses on four domains in which China’s experience compels us to rethink our theories: environmental ideology, political economy, civil society and environmental justice, and international environmental politics. In each domain, China’s institutions, discourses, and place in the world-system reframe major currents of thought in environmental sociology. These points challenge us to decenter environmental sociologists’ focus on how things happen within liberal polities in the global North; they likewise push us to reconsider arguments about the South. Together, these challenges present an opportunity to extend our theory and practice, fashioning a more global environmental sociology.

Regional Governance and Environmental Problems

Only recently has international environmental politics scholarship focused more explicitly on “regionalism” as a distinct phenomenon, one which has received much more sustained attention among specialists in international security and international political economy. By the early twenty-first century, regional environmental governance had become commonplace. Since the term “region” has had different connotations in different disciplines, the analytic and empirical scope of studies of regional environmental governance has varied considerably. As such, analyses of regional environmental cooperation have incorporated both constructivist views of regions that transcend the nation-state grid, and rescaling arguments placing greater emphasis on subnational governments, transboundary mobilization, and the importance of ecoregional initiatives. Regional agreements increasingly point to some sort of ecoterritoriality, state actors are increasingly complemented by nonstate or substate actors, and the thematic scope increasingly expands beyond purely environmental issues to encompass broader notions of sustainable development. There are three typical types of regional agreements: interstate regional environmental governance, ecoregional environmental governance, and ecoregional sustainable development governance. Interstate regional environmental governance is most typical of regional economic organizations with an environmental mandate that covers single or multiple environmental issues. Meanwhile, ecoregional environmental governance is widely seen in agreements for mountain ranges, regional seas, or river basins. Case studies on marine and mountain regional environmental governance illustrate that various regional arrangement remain in quite different states of institutionalization. Yet they also illustrate the growth of ecoregionalism in transnational environmental governance.

THE CHALLENGES OF THE ANTHROPOCENE: FROM INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL POLITICS TO GLOBAL GOVERNANCE

: This article proposes a reflection on the challenges of global environmental policy in the Anthropocene. Firstly, the inconsistency between the institutions of international environmental policy and the progressive degradation of the planetary boundaries is highlighted. Secondly, it is stated that, since the transition to Anthropocene requires the conscious construction of a new space of safe operation for humanity, it is necessary to radically modify the institutional structure of cooperation, based on international regimes: the transition from environmental politics to global governance. The fundamental milestone of this path is the overcoming of the international system of conservative hegemony, that is, the abandonment of the sovereignist tendencies - egotistical and short-term - on the part of its actors, particularly the great powers. Finally, a series of premises for the governance of the Anthropocene is proposed from the point of view of International Relations, with the post-sovereign transition as the main pillar.