Capital Investment, Inequality, and State Power in a Time of Climate Emergency

Lecture Series: “Climate Change: From Ecological to Democratic Tipping Points?”
Summer Semester 2026

Lecture by MartinO’Neill (University of York)

The lecture will be held in English.

Climate Change: From Ecological to Democratic Tipping Points?

“We are on the brink of an irreversible climate disaster. This is a global emergency beyond
any doubt…We are stepping into a critical and unpredictable new phase of the climate
crisis.” So begins the World Meteorological Association’s 2024 State of the Climate Report.
Climate change is, however, not only an ecological challenge, but also a political one. Given
the urgency of the situation, but also the steadily growing resistance from fossil fuel interests,
how can effective and fair climate measures be implemented democratically? Is the failure to
address climate change adequately a failure of democracy? Does responding to the climate
crisis outstrip democratic capacities?

The lecture series examines questions of the climate crisis as challenges for democratic
societies and focuses on issues of political legitimacy, fossil fuel resistance, and the interests
of future generations.

The lecture series of the Research Center for Normative Orders in the summer semester 2026 takes place within the research program “Turning Points: Normative Orders in Transition?”, funded by the Commerzbank Foundation Fund within the Stifterverband für die Deutsche Wissenschaft. It is organized by Prof. Dr. Darrel Moellendorf and Dr. Lukas Sparenborg.