Steps to overcome the North–South divide in research relevant to climate change policy and practice (original) (raw)

Nature Climate Change volume 7, pages 21–27 (2017) Cite this article

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Abstract

A global North–South divide in research, and its negative consequences, has been highlighted in various scientific disciplines. Northern domination of science relevant to climate change policy and practice, and limited research led by Southern researchers in Southern countries, may hinder further development and implementation of global climate change agreements and nationally appropriate actions. Despite efforts to address the North–South divide, progress has been slow. In this Perspective, we illustrate the extent of the divide, review underlying issues and analyse their consequences for climate change policy development and implementation. We propose a set of practical steps in both Northern and Southern countries that a wide range of actors should take at global, regional and national scales to span the North–South divide, with examples of some actions already being implemented.

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Figure 1: Affiliations of first authors of scientific papers published in 2000–2014 in relation to countries' economic status and by country.

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Figure 2: Affiliations of authors of scientific articles about climate change in relation to countries' economic status.

The alternative text for this image may have been generated using AI.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank A. Engelmann and M. Stråhle from the SLU University Library for the help with the bibliographic analysis.

Author information

Author notes

  1. Malgorzata Blicharska and Richard J. Smithers: These authors contributed equally to this work

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth Sciences, Natural Resources and Sustainable Development, Uppsala University, Uppsala, 75236, Sweden
    Malgorzata Blicharska & Magdalena Kuchler
  2. Swedish Biodiversity Centre, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden
    Malgorzata Blicharska
  3. Ricardo Energy & Environment, Harwell, Didcot, UK
    Richard J. Smithers
  4. GRADE (Global Research Arch for Developing Education) Academy, Pvt. Ltd, Birguni, Nepal
    Ganesh K. Agrawal
  5. Universidad de Costa Rica, Instituto Clodomiro Picado, Facultad de Microbiología, San José, Costa Rica
    José M. Gutiérrez
  6. Department of Chemistry, Kenyatta University, Nairobi, Kenya
    Ahmed Hassanali
  7. International Centre for Climate Change & Development, Independent University, Bangladesh, Dhaka, Bangladesh
    Saleemul Huq
  8. Department of Psychology, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil
    Silvia H. Koller
  9. Centre for Studies in Social Sciences Calcutta, Calcutta, India
    Sugata Marjit
  10. Tanzania Commission for Science and Technology, Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania
    Hassan M. Mshinda
  11. University of Malaya, Faculty of Engineering, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
    Hj Hassan Masjuki
  12. Center for Studies of Sensory Impairment, Aging and Metabolism, Guatemala City, 01011, Guatemala
    Noel W. Solomons
  13. Research Centre for Plant Growth and Development, School of Life Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal Pietermaritzburg, South Africa
    Johannes Van Staden
  14. School for Forest Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Skinnskatteberg, 73921, Sweden
    Grzegorz Mikusiński

Authors

  1. Malgorzata Blicharska
  2. Richard J. Smithers
  3. Magdalena Kuchler
  4. Ganesh K. Agrawal
  5. José M. Gutiérrez
  6. Ahmed Hassanali
  7. Saleemul Huq
  8. Silvia H. Koller
  9. Sugata Marjit
  10. Hassan M. Mshinda
  11. Hj Hassan Masjuki
  12. Noel W. Solomons
  13. Johannes Van Staden
  14. Grzegorz Mikusiński

Contributions

M.B., R.J.S., G.M. initiated the study; G.M. conducted the analysis with help of M.B. and R.J.S.; M.B. and R.J.S. wrote the paper and contributed equally to this work. All other authors contributed to the text, and provided practical examples for inclusion in the article.

Corresponding author

Correspondence toGrzegorz Mikusiński.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Blicharska, M., Smithers, R., Kuchler, M. et al. Steps to overcome the North–South divide in research relevant to climate change policy and practice.Nature Clim Change 7, 21–27 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate3163

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