The Politicization of Climate Policies in the Israeli Occupation of Palestine: Environmental Responsibility or Tools of Domination?

Abstract

This project critically investigates the politicization of climate policies within the framework of Israel's occupation of Palestine and analyses the duality of environmental responsibility and tools of domination. Embedded within the broader discourse on climate and conflict, it engages with critiques of the securitization and depoliticization of climate narratives that obscure local power dynamics and systems of oppression. Through a discourse analysis of the official statements of Israel at the United Nations Climate Change Conferences (COP) since 2015, this project shows how Israel instrumentalizes environmental discourses in support of its settler colonial project. At the same time as Israel has positioned itself as a leader in climate innovation, afforestation, water management, and the development of renewable energies reshape the landscape and solidify control over Palestinian territories under the rhetoric of environmental stewardship. This project brings postcolonial studies and critical security studies together in an original way to expose the inability of dominant climate-security paradigms to take seriously anything but an abstract threat in view of the lived experiences of marginalized populations. It emphasizes how socio-political contexts must be integrated within climate governance frameworks that offer nuanced insights into how climate policies perpetuate systemic inequalities, especially in occupation contexts.