About

Hosted by the Centre for Development Studies, the Earth System Governance Research Centre Bath was established in September 2022, based on the Memorandum of Understanding signed between the University of Bath and the Earth System Governance Project. The Earth System Governance (ESG) Project is one of the world’s largest interdisciplinary social science research networks to advance knowledge at the interface between global environmental change and governance. The project aims to explore political solutions and novel, more effective governance systems to cope with the climate and ecological crises. The ESG network consists of 17 research centres and over 500 scholars across the globe.

Since its launch, the ESG Research Centre Bath has brought together researchers of sustainability governance from across the university and beyond, including those based in the Departments of Politics, Languages and International Studies, Education, Health, Psychology, and the School of Management as well as researchers based in the region including Cardiff, Bristol, and Oxford. The centre organises a fortnightly seminar series for researchers to share their latest work. It has also supported several large grant applications, including a Leverhulme Research Fellowship and a UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship. To pursue research impact, the Centre actively engages with practitioners and fosters collaboration with government and civil society organisations, such as Bath and North Somerset Council, Development Initiatives, and Action for Sustainable Development. Currently, centre coordinator Dr Yixian Sun leads Sustainability Governance of China’s Global Infrastructure Investments (SGAIN) - a £1.7 million research project awarded by the UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship.

For more information about the ESG Research Centre Bath and/or to get in touch, please contact us at ESG@bath.ac.uk

Events

Seminar series

Our seminar series gives researchers across and beyond the University of Bath opportunities to share their latest work on environmental governance and sustainable development. It aims to stimulate interdisciplinary discussion and promote collaboration for understanding and realising sustainable and just futures. We meet fortnightly during the teaching semester, and we welcome speakers across all career stages, especially early career researchers. Below is the programme for the current academic year. If you want to present your work, please contact the series convenor, Dr Yixian Sun.

Semester 1

• Should I stay or should I go now? Oil and Gas Workers’ Decisions to Exit versus Remain Based on Climate Concerns - Grace Augustine, University of Bath (8 Oct 2024)

• Long Problems: Climate Change and the Challenge of Governing across Time - Thomas Hale, University of Oxford (22 Oct 2024)

• China’s Camel Country Livestock and Nation-Building at a Pastoral Frontier - Thomas White, Kings College London (5 Nov 2024)

• Sustainable Earnings in a Resilient Economic System - Aurelie Charles, University of Bath (19 Nov 2024)

• Has the Paris Climate Agreement Changed Corporate Behavior? Professor Jeff Colgan, Brown University (3 December 2024)

Semester 2

• The rise of environmental justice movements in Indonesia Dr Maharani Hapsari, Gadjah Mada University (27 January 2025)

• Assessing climate ambition through policy outputs: A comparative study of 35 major emitters Yitong Ye, Bath SPS (18 February 2025)

• Implementation of Trade and Sustainable Development Chapters in EU Free Trade Agreements: Promoting Environmental Reforms? Maria Garcia, POLIS (18 March 2025)

• Healthy urban development + complex research operationalisation - Daniel Black (29 April 2025)

Previous seminars

• Global Shifts: Business, Politics & Deforestation in a Changing World Economy - Philip Schleifer (Oct 2023)

• The Problems and Publics of Net Zero: Anticipating Carbon Removal? - Jose Maria Valenzuela (Oct 2023)

• Who will own a car in the future? - Sarah Toy (Nov 2023)

• Book launch - Disrupted Development in the Congo: The Fragile Foundations of the African Mining Consensus - Ben Radley, joined by guest speakers Marie-Rose Bashwira, Doris Okwena, Mihika Chatterjee (Nov 2023)

• No Political Tipping Point is Coming: Why Climate Change Politics Grow More Contentious and Politicized, Despite Increased Scientific Certainty and Public Awareness - Stacy D. VanDeveer (Dec 2023)

• The Politics and Governance of Decarbonization. The Interplay Between State and Non-state Actors in Sweden - Karin Bäckstrand, Stockholm University/LSE (Feb 2024)

• Decolonizing climate-smart agriculture: Climate justice and global agricultural value chains in Pakistan - Noaman Ali, University of Bath (Feb 2024)

• Private governance and political engagement: The case of Brazil - Rodrigo Cezar, Fundação Getulio Vargas (FGV) (March 2024)

• Towards Purpose-Driven Ecosystems: Opportunities and barriers - Frederik Dalhmann, University of Warwick (April 2024)

• Between extractivism and developmenalism: Chinese investments on resource-infrastrucutre nexus in Africa - Wei Shen, Institute of Development Studies (April 2024)

Away days

An informal, flexible setting for effective discussions and original ideas involving numerous academics across the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences.

• 11/6/23