Redéfinir le problème climatique par l'écoute du local : éléments de propédeutique

International audienceThe disappointing outcomes of international negotiations on climate change are frequently associated with inaction and the consequences of a perceived disconnection between science and politics. However, our experiences and empirical findings based on research carried out in France in highly diverse situations and among very different operators invalidate this thesis. By analysing climate change from the standpoint of territories and local adaptation and mitigation strategies, our article contends that the problem stems instead from a still insufficient fit between local and global levels of expertise and action frameworks. Moreover, we also need to analyse climate change from a new angle and recognise its dual nature in material and objective terms as well as in its cultural, symbolic and subjective components.Assimilés à de l'inaction, les résultats décevants du processus international de négociation sur les changements climatiques sont régulièrement interprétés comme la conséquence d'un découplage caractérisé entre science et politique. Les observations concrètes et les analyses que nous avons effectuées en France, dans des situations diverses et auprès d'opérateurs extrêmement variés, invalident cette thèse. Envisageant le changement climatique depuis les territoires et les stratégies locales d'atténuation et d'adaptation, l'article suggère que le problème procède plutôt d'une articulation encore insuffisante entre niveau global et niveau local-territorial d'expertise et de cadrage de l'action. Aussi convient-il de considérer à nouveaux frais le problème climatique, d'en reconnaître et d'en approfondir la double nature ou le double visage, en l'appréhendant dans ses données matérielles et objectives comme dans ses composantes culturelles, symboliques et subjectives. Abstract – Reframing climate issue by listening to local actors: elements of propaedeutic. The disappointing outcomes of international negotiations on climate change are frequently associated with inaction and the consequences of a perceived disconnection between science and politics. However, our experiences and empirical findings based on research carried out in France in highly diverse situations and among very different operators invalidate this thesis. By analysing climate change from the standpoint of territories and local adaptation and mitigation strategies, our article contends that the problem stems instead from a still insufficient fit between local and global levels of expertise and action frameworks. Moreover, we also need to analyse climate change from a new angle and recognise its dual nature in material and objective terms as well as in its cultural, symbolic and subjective components