Technical solutions alone will not stop climate change – this is the message of the Augsburg Appeal, a joint statement by renowned scientists from the social sciences. Dr. Stefanie Baasch, a human geographer from the artec Sustainability Research Center, explains in an interview with the University of Bremen's online magazine up2date why climate research must be approached not only from a natural science perspective, but also from a social science perspective – and how urgently more funding is needed in this area.

Dr. Baasch, in the Augsburg Appeal, you call for social science findings to be given greater consideration in climate action. What can disciplines such as human geography, sociology, political science, and psychology contribute that natural science and technical subjects cannot?

Anthropogenic climate change is not a natural process, but rather the result of highly complex, interwoven human actions with biophysical and ecological reactions. In scientific and technical fields and in climate action, humans have so far been viewed in purely functional terms and addressed as ‘humanity’’ as a collective entity. This is highly problematic because it ignores the serious differences between individual, structural, and institutional aspects of climate change and its unequal social and spatial impact.

In order to develop effective and just measures for climate action and adapt to climate change, we need to analyze social contexts and dynamics in a more nuanced way and take into account different kinds of knowledge – not only from the academic world, but also from everyday life. The field of social sciences can provide differentiated answers to questions about the causes, complexity, and mitigation of climate change, as well as how to protect against and adapt to it. In this way, they can contribute to more effective climate action policies.

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Please read the full interview on the pages of the online magazine up2date.