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The theme “International Relations in an Age of Climate Crisis” highlights how climate change is transforming the international system and contributing to fragmentation in global governance. Environmental challenges now influence geopolitics, economic stability, migration, and security, making climate change a central issue in international relations. It significantly affects human security through impacts on livelihoods, health, food and water access, displacement, and socio-political stability, while sea-level rise raises new questions about sovereignty and citizenship. Climate governance is challenged by growing fragmentation in the international system. Geopolitical rivalries and strategic competition among major powers weaken multilateral cooperation and undermine the effectiveness of global climate regimes. Global frameworks like the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change have institutionalised climate diplomacy, their effectiveness in protecting vulnerable countries in the Global South remains limited. Climate disasters affecting vulnerable populations raise questions about whether international mechanisms such as the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction can deliver climate justice.

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Technological developments such as digitalisation, artificial intelligence, renewable energy, and climate-smart technologies play a dual role in both accelerating and mitigating climate change. Despite these developments, many countries continue to prioritise economic growth over environmental sustainability, often sidelining climate concerns.

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​In this context, the BCIS aims to encourage scholars to critically examine the drivers and consequences of climate change while exploring new forms of cooperation, agency, and institutional innovation in international relations.

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**  Please note that the Symposium will not entertain purely scientific papers on climate change. Its aim is to interrogate the praxis of science through the lens of international relations

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