Climate change forever: the future of an idea

ABSTRACT The idea of a changing climate has been present in most cultural formations throughout recorded history, and yet the latter decades of the twentieth century animated the idea of climate change is new and powerful ways. This essay reflects on the possible future of this idea, comparing approaches to climate change that frame it either as an engineering problem, a new locus of politics or as a human predicament. The idea of climate change seems unlikely to go away – notwithstanding the success or otherwise of polices designed to stabilise the climate. It therefore warrants considered reflection on the possible ways in which this idea accompanies and guides future human development.