Panel 9.8. Local impacts of global regimes of Enclosures: Perspectives from Global South
co-Chairs: Saurabh Chowdhury1, Sujoy Subroto, Sammy Snachez, and Ana Watson
1University of Calgary
Devastating wildfires and unparalleled precedent of extreme weather events like heat waves, droughts, floods, are sparkling questions about the human-nature connections and pathways towards sustainable and environmentally just futures. Amidst the growing concerns regarding justice and equity aspects, decarbonization regimes and market-driven biodiversity conservation approaches have emerged as instrumental strategies to governing natural resources and addressing the sustainability crisis. However, these solutions are often critiqued for remaining deeply connected with certain colonial approaches and hegemonic narratives that reinforce pre-existing marginalization and nature-society division, leading to disruptions in the management of local commons with contested outcomes such as territorialization, bureaucratic violence, systemic injustice, and impacts on traditional livelihoods, rights, and epistemology, etc. This panel critically analyzes the sustainability and efficacy of current conservation practices and decarbonization narratives by asking human-centric questions of the emerging regimes that seek to enclose the commons and obscure alternative imaginaries and possibilities through greenwashing, land grabbing, and fortress conservation, etc. The panel organizers are members of the POLLEN (Political Ecology network) node at the University of Calgary which is an interdisciplinary group of post-graduate scholars focusing on human-nature relationships in multiple global south locations (Bangladesh, Colombia, Peru, and India).
Tuesday, June 17, 2025 1:30 PM – 3:00 PM Integrative Learning Center ILCN 155
Revealing Nature-Based Solutions in the Anthropocene: Insights From Local Contexts and Indigenous Narratives
online
Maria Ines Carbajal1, Fany Ramos2, Sergio Romero3, Hector Turra4, and Ana Watson5
1Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Argentina; 2Centro de Acciones por el Desarrollo, la Educacion y la Cultura, Bolivia; 3ENJUVES- encuentro de Juventudes por Escaú, Bolivia; 4Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary, Canada; 5Political Sciences, University of Calgary, Canada
The escalating, increasingly frequent, and costly impacts of climate change have created an urgent need for effective solutions. Nature-based solutions (NbS) have emerged as a valuable strategy for carbon dioxide removal, biodiversity conservation, and local development. While NbS are gaining traction among environmental organizations, the private sector, and institutional actors, some local movements in Latin America resist what they view as "false solutions." These movements argue that a genuine NbS framework requires a holistic perspective that considers local realities, inequalities, and the intricate relationships between humans and nature. In this paper, we unpack the need to seek and develop local and pluralistic narratives of climate solutions that highlight the relationality and interdependence between humans and non-human agents when addressing complex environmental and developmental issues. Our theoretical framework focuses on three salient constructs that interact in global and local conversations about climate change mitigation and environmental conservation: the Anthropocene, Nature-based Solutions, and Indigenous narratives regarding the relationships that sustain life.By critically examining the concept of Nature-Based Solutions, we explore its connections to the Anthropocene framework. We also use Indigenous narratives as a contrasting lens to deepen our understanding of NbS. Drawing on document reviews and empirical data from Panama, Peru, and Bolivia, this analysis underscores the vital role of local and Indigenous perspectives as essential practical, theoretical, and analytical tools for transforming the relationship between humans and nature. This analysis contributes to the empirical discussion on why local and Indigenous narratives must be seriously considered as practical, theoretical, and analytical lenses to inform and transform the relationship between humans and nature in the context of the urgent action needed to address climate change.
