Climate Change as Biopolitical Rupture: Surveillance, Security and the Unequal Governance of Life

This paper analyzes climate change through the theoretical lens of biopolitics, emphasizing that the global climate crisis is not only an ecological phenomenon but also a political event that restructures how life is governed, protected, and exposed to risk. Drawing on the work of foundational thinkers such as Foucault, Agamben, Mbembe, Esposito, and others, the paper explores how climate governance operates as a biopolitical apparatus, monitoring, regulating, and stratifying populations based on their perceived value and vulnerability. Using a critical, interpretive methodology grounded in political philosophy and supported by illustrative case studies, the study examines how biopolitical theory enables a deeper understanding of adaptation and resilience strategies, highlighting how such measures often reinforce global inequalities rather than resolve them. Climate-related interventions frequently channel political decision-making into technical solutions, sidelining democratic participation and ethical responsibility. The paper critiques key trends such as necropolitics, eco-fascism, and green colonialism, which reveal how biopolitical climate governance can marginalize and displace vulnerable communities under the guise of sustainability. It also addresses the ethical dilemma of resilience, arguing that adaptive strategies too often place responsibility on individuals while neglecting systemic causes of vulnerability. Finally, the study calls for an emancipatory form of biopolitics, one grounded in solidarity, ecological justice, and care, rather than control. By foregrounding ethical and philosophical critique, the paper argues that confronting the climate crisis requires rethinking how life itself is valued and protected in the Anthropocene.