Climate Change and the Social Struggle for the Appropriation of Ecosystem Services

TAPELLA E Y D CÁCERES

Denver, Colorado

Congreso; World Climate Research Programme. Climate Research in Service to Society; 2011

WCRP

ID: 72851  Climate Change and the Social Struggle for the Appropriation of Ecosystem Services  Climate change is the result of a complex network of social and natural interrelations. Changes in temperature and rainfall and a more frequent occurrence of extreme events, directly affect society and how different social actors use and struggle in order to have access to ecosystem services. As a consequence of climate change and the impact of economic, politic and technological drivers, Argentina is experienced drastic land-use changes. The growing demand for food and bio-fuels, the rise of the price of commodities, and the urgent need to increase its GDP, are fuelling agricultural intensification and the expansion of agriculture over native ecosystems. Within a favorable economic and political context, technological innovations such as no-till farming, genetically modified seeds, and center pivot irrigation system provide the basic know-how needed to replace native forests and pastures with annual crops and exotic pastures. In the context of climate change, this paper analyses the process of land use change in Argentina, focussing on the role played by different stakeholders in their struggle for the appropriation of ecosystem services. The strategies carried out by some stakeholder are deeply modifying land use in critical areas, configuring new social scenarios of ´winners´ and ´losers´, and -in turn- also fuelling climate change. To better understand climate change processes and their interdependency with social and environmental systems, the paper highlights the importance of developing interdisciplinary and multi-actor approaches.