Climate Frontiers and Social Transformation

Matthew Chidozie Ogwu is an Assistant Professor of Integrated Ecology and Sustainable Development at Appalachian State University, USA. He advances interdisciplinary research at the interface of ecology, sustainability, and society. His work examines how environmental change—particularly climate stressors, air pollution, food insecurity, resource management, and biodiversity loss—interacts with social and economic systems, supported by complementary expertise in microbial ecology and applied environmental assessment. He has participated in international collaborations, including EU-funded biodiversity projects, and brings a strong record of teaching, mentorship, and cross-sector engagement. Dr. Ogwu’s research and editorial work focus on developing evidence and frameworks to support climate justice, resilient communities, and policy innovation across the Global North and Global South.Sylvester Chibueze Izah is a Faculty Member at Bayelsa Medical University, Nigeria, where he also serves as Assistant Director of Academic Planning, Research, and Innovations. A licensed environmental health specialist, he focuses on sustainable human-environmental health interactions, including air, soil, and water quality, toxicology, sanitation, food science, waste management, and biodiversity. His interdisciplinary expertise and prolific scholarship make him a key voice in environmental health and sustainability research.

• Part I: Theoretical and Historical Foundations.- Chapter 1. Global Environmental Change and the Evolution of World-Systems Thinking.- Chapter 2. Capital, Carbon, and the Climate System: Historical Drivers of Ecological Crisis.- Chapter 3. Climate as Structure and Process: A Systems Perspective on Ecological Transformation.- Chapter 4. The Energy Transition in Historical Perspective: From Biomass to Fossil Fuels and Beyond.- Part II: Regional Dynamics and Systemic Inequalities.- Chapter 5. Climate Change and the Reproduction of Global Inequality.- Chapter 6. Peripheral Ecologies: Environmental Degradation at the Margins of the World-System.- Chapter 7. Ecological Imperialism Revisited: Land Grabs, Resource Frontiers, and Global Demand.- Chapter 8. Urban Metabolism and the Global South: Climate Change and Infrastructural Fragility.- Part III: Actors, Institutions, and Movements.- Chapter 9. Hegemony and Climate Governance: Core States, Agreements, and the Limits of Multilateralism.- Chapter 10. Resistance from the Periphery: Indigenous, Peasant, and Climate Justice Movements.- Chapter 11. Youth, Crisis, and Systemic Change: Generational Agency in a Warming World.- Chapter 12. Corporate Climate Strategies and the Future of Green Capitalism.- Part IV: Futures and Transformations.- Chapter 13. Modeling Future Climate and World-System Interactions: Risk, Collapse, and Adaptation.- Chapter 14. Toward a Just Energy Transition: Policy, Power, and Post-Carbon Futures.