Cool inclusion : Thermal inequality in an overheating climate

Oppermann, Elspeth and Walker, Gordon and Cross, Jamie (2024) Cool inclusion : Thermal inequality in an overheating climate. In: Post-Carbon Inclusion : Transitions Built on Justice. Policy Press, pp. 138-155. ISBN 9781529229424

Abstract

Climate change is making periods of extreme heat both more intense and more frequent in many places around the world. This chapter considers the interrelation between transitioning to a post-carbon condition and the need to simultaneously adapt to the growing threat from extreme heat. We conceptualize ‘keeping cool’ using the framework of the capabilities approach, before exploring how exclusion from cooling operates within low-income communities in the Global South. We argue that cool inclusion demands explicit attention to social justice, that it entails a fundamental recognition of the struggles involved in avoiding or coping with heat, and that it should be premised on the thermal autonomy to secure what cooling is most needed for. Strategies for cooling in a decarbonizing world must not assume blanket holding down of energy use, but rather engage in questions of justice in relation to populations routinely rendered invisible, illegal and impoverished, including in overarching transition discourses.