Paterson, Matthew

Matthew Paterson’s research looks into the relationship between the global economy and global environmental change. He has focused on climate change politics for 20 years, in particular looking at the international climate negotiations, the role of insurance companies in climate politics, and most recently at carbon markets as a means of responding to climate change. In the context of the Strategic cluster, Dr. Paterson is particularly interested in the lessons that Canada can learn from the European experience of carbon markets. Dr. Paterson’s book, co-written with Peter Newell (University of East Anglia, UK) entitled Climate Capitalism, was published in 2010 by Cambridge University Press. His latest book “Towards a Cultural Politics of Climate Change provides a new perspective on how climate change matters in policy-making, business and everyday life. It argues that the work of low carbon transitions takes place through the creation of devices, the mobilisation of desires, and the articulation of dissent. Using case studies from the US, Australia, and Europe, the book examines the creation and contestation of new forms of cultural politics – of how a climate-changed society is articulated, realized and contested. ”

Research Interests: Climate change politics, Global environmental governance, Global environmental politics, International Relations Theory, and International/global political economy