As of March 2026, this website is no longer being updated. I now work mainly on climate issues, especially in Brighton and Hove, and new work can be found on the website of Climate:Change, our independent think-tank on socially inclusive action in the City: www.climatechangebh.org.uk.
Meanwhile, however, this website has over 850 entries, mostly representing my work on international development from 2010-2025. Among much else, there are over 50 book reviews, more than 20 papers and training cases on bridging research and policy and on managing think-tanks, nearly 100 articles on climate change, and many papers on other topics, including aid, food security and nutrition, and the future of international development. See ‘Topics and Themes’ for more details. I can be reached at sm@simonmaxwell.net.
The politics of climate change
The politics of climate change, Open Democracy, June 2009
The route to international action on climate change can’t escape from politics. But can this be understood as tough consensus-building rather than conflict-resolution, asks Simon Maxwell.
The rooted view that climate-change policy-making is inescapably political is usually connected to an understanding of politics that puts conflict at its heart. The idea is that this is an area where choices and trade-offs - between social groups, geographies, interests and generations - abound, and the potential for conflict lurks at every turn................. (see link in title for full article)