Anthropogenic climate change is arguably the most significant threat confronting humankind in the early 21st Century. The intellectual history underpinning our growing insight into the nature and scale of the problem has received marked attention in recent years and yet the specifics of the Soviet Union’s contribution in this respect have been marginalised in the English-language literature. This lacuna is significant not only in view of the Soviet Union’s (and latterly the Soviet successor states’) size and importance for global environmental systems, but also because of the contribution made by Soviet scientists to the international understanding and associated debate in this area post-1945.
Soviet climate science and its intellectual legacies
The Russian Federation remains a major contributor to global greenhouse gas emissions. At the same time, it has adopted a relatively negative stance with respect to recent and ongoing international efforts to curtail such emissions. In view of this, the overarching aim of this research project is to explore the development of Soviet climate science post-1945, with a particular focus on the debates concerning humankind’s influence on climate systems and on Soviet contributions to related international initiatives. The research will also examine the intellectual legacies of these debates for Russia’s positioning in post-1991 climate discussions. As part of this, the research will provide a first detailed account of Soviet engagement with international debate concerning climate change and key organisations such as the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) and Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The project will make extensive use of both Russian- and English language archival materials located in Russia, Europe and the USA. In addition, it will generate a series of oral history interviews with scientists involved in Soviet climate science. The contemporary element of the research will be underpinned by interviews with relevant policy and state actors and supported by secondary data analysis. The project’s output will consist of a series of published works and reports in addition to workshops and a project conference to be held in St. Petersburg. In addition, it will produce a block of work for use in Schools concerning Russia and climate change in collaboration with the Royal Geographical Society (RGS). This would take advantage of the introduction of Russia as a required element of study within the Key Stage 3 (11-14) National Curriculum and help to strengthen the coverage of key themes including climate change, biomes, and carbon cycle within KS3 and the new GCSE and A level specifications effective from September 2016. Further outputs will include Master classes for teachers, public lectures outlining the main findings of the research, policy briefings, and materials for the project and RGS websites.
- Grant reference
- AH/P004431/1
- Total awarded
- £482,051 GBP
- Start date
- 1 Mar 2017
- Duration
- 4 years 5 months 29 days
- End date
- 30 Aug 2021
- Status
- Closed