Climate Regime, ethics, ownership, displacement (after belonging)

Geopolitics – “politics of earth systems”, are the socio-economic arrangements linked to geographical space where politics done by humans territorialize and arrange every human and non-human existence. An infinite set of negotiations and disputes occur, which arrange certain species, patches of forested and geological formations shaping the physical territory. In the anthropocene, humans have irreversibly become the mediators of such arrangements, dictating the boundaries, limits, and territorial dynamics over the landscape, often subjugating non-human entities to their desires. Territorialization initiates with an intent, predominant over the multiplicity of objectives that coexist in the same territory. These intents can stem from political, economic, or environmental conditions and desires, always constrained by the territory in dispute. The Toba Caldera in Indonesia, the basins of the Red river in Vietnam and Xingu river in Brazil and the South-England coast in the North Sea depict how predominant intents for tourism, agriculture and economic development have muffled the traditional and pre-existing human and non-human voices that have inhabited and perpetuated the ecological balance of these regions. Given sufficient power, intents are reinforced by claims, where demarcations and delenations are drawn to justify the operationalization of a territory. The drive to stimulate economic growth superimposes over the natural dynamics of the Baltic Sea in the Gulf of Riga and Vistula River. A quickly re-territorializing Barents Sea in Norway to facilitate natural resource extraction has transformed the sea into a productive seascape. Once predominant claims have been consolidated, the need for guaranteeing control delineates and restricts other intents that have not been considered or silenced. The gradient of control can be done through governance methods, ranging in scale and implications to restrict and manage territorialization fit for purpose, leading to complete anthropogenic control over natural systems such as the riverine territories of the Ijssel and the Seine. As the modern era of human geopolitics continues to resist yielding space for the silenced voices, we witness the urge of nature to release itself from these imposed controls. Ultimately, we call for geo-politics that are intune with the geo-systems.

> Link to the set of images (Monograph: Geopolitics).