Paper short abstract:

Bhutan is an unparalleled carbon sink, absorbing 3 times more carbon than it emits. Its discursive social uptake/policy engagement with climate change is unique. Ambitious engagement with the Anthropocene interacts with local material and interpretive contexts, shaping moral narratives and practice.

Paper long abstract:

Bhutan is an unparalleled carbon sink in the world, absorbing three times more carbon than it emits. Its high mountainous terrain means that it is particularly vulnerable to weather extremes and the effects of climate change. In the vast and variable region of Himalayas, its discursive social uptake and policy engagement with climate change is both ambitious and unique. Upheld as an "inspiration to the world" by UN Climate Chief Christiana Figueres, the Himalayan Kingdom encodes its commitment to environmental conservation in its constitution stipulating more than 60% forest cover in perpetuity. Recent climate promises made at COP21 in Paris further commit the nation to remain carbon neutral and integrate climate adaptation and mitigation into far-reaching development policies. Bhutan's sensitive land-locked geopolitical position in relation to two carbon-emitting giants, demonstrates that discursive social uptake of Himalayan climate change, institutional interventions and engagement with the Anthropocene are extremely variable across the region. The paper explores Bhutan's unique environmental policies, its institutional practices, and socio-cultural engagement with climate change. It situates them within its unique history, religious and spiritual-ecological beliefs (Bon and Buddhism), its geopolitical position, as well as GNH, a living alternative to development that guides the nation. In doing so, it investigates both the enabling conditions, as well as the challenges that the nation faces in a rapidly changing trans-boundary world. The paper argues that institutional discourses, policies, and practices interact with local material and interpretive contexts, shaping moral narratives about climate change and invariably, its impacts on sentient beings.