Dr Carlos Zepeda is a Research Associate in the Department of War Studies, School of Security Studies at King’s College London, where he contributes to the ESRC-funded project The International Relations of Tropical Storms in the Caribbean. His research focuses on the intersection of international relations, climate security, and the politics of extreme weather events—particularly tropical storms and hurricanes affecting Caribbean Small Island Developing States (SIDS).

Carlos examines the international cooperation challenges the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the Caribbean Meteorological Organization (CMO) are facing to support vulnerable small island states in navigating the growing risks posed by climate change. In partnership with WMO, CMO and the University of the West Indies in Jamaica, his research explores how the Early Warning for All initiative (EWFA) reflects obstacles in political ecology, international cooperation, and the securitization of weather and climate data in postcolonial societies. He studies the role power relations play in the governance of data, technology, artificial intelligence and information flows in climate security and development in the Global South.

Prior to joining King’s, Carlos served as Assistant Director of Policy and Practice at the Laudato Si’ Research Institute, Campion Hall, University of Oxford, where he bridged academic research, policy, and civil society—particularly Indigenous and faith-based communities—on issues of integral ecology and environmental justice.

Qualifications

• PhD in Politics and International Studies: University of Warwick, UK (2015)
• MA In Development Studies: International Institute of Social Studies, Erasmus University of Rotterdam, The Netherlands (2006)
• PgDip In Development Cooperation: University of Valencia, Spain (2005)
• BA in Economics: University of Central America (UCA), El Salvador (2003)

Science, Civil Society and Policy Interface

Carlos is a transdisciplinary researcher working at the intersection of science, civil society, and policymaking, with a focus on climate change, natural resource governance, and environmental justice.

• He is currently advancing research at the science-policy interface through partnership collaborations with United Nations agencies, including the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the Caribbean Meteorological Organization (CMO), as part of the Early Warnings for All initiative.
• From 2023 to 2024, Carlos served as Chair of UNEP’s Faith for Earth Initiative, coordinating over 80 faith-based organizations to engage in global environmental policy dialogues.
• He has presented research on integral ecology and the inclusion of Indigenous and faith-based communities in multilateral environmental governance at high-level forums, including COP26 in the UAE, representing the Laudato Si’ Research Institute, University of Oxford.
• Carlos co-authored a high-impact policy report, Faith-Based Participation in Natural Resources Governance: Communities Defending Life and Territories in Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico, produced in collaboration with the World Resources Institute and supported by the Ford Foundation. The report addresses climate justice, conflict resolution, and the rights of vulnerable Indigenous and faith communities in Latin America.
• At SOAS University of London, he led the development of the institution’s first online MSc programmes in International Development and Humanitarian Action, integrating policy-relevant insights across the Development Studies department.
• He authored and presented the policy paper Water for Life or for Trade to the European Parliament, advocating for water as a human right. This work was commissioned by a coalition of major NGOs (CIDSE, Oxfam, ACT Alliance) and grassroots movements, contributing to Sustainable Development Goal 6.
• At the University of Portsmouth, Carlos led the expansion of global academic, industry, and civil society partnerships through the cross-faculty Development Studies Group (100+ researchers), enhancing the university’s strategic engagement and success with the Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF).

Research Interests

• Climate security and the politics of extreme weather governance
• International cooperation in Caribbean disaster response
• Securitization of weather, data, and climate science
• Artificial intelligence in climate adaptation and development
• Political ecology of meteorology, natural resource governance and environmental risk
• Global and regional governance of climate information flows
• Integral Ecology Ethics and policy interface in the Global South

Teaching

Carlos has taught and helped design development studies and sustainable development hybrid and online graduate modules at British and Latin American universities including SOAS, University of Portsmouth and FLACSO Argentina.

Publications

Books

• Zepeda, C. (2015) Water politics in El Salvador : power, water and social change in poor communities of San José Villanueva. PhD Thesis. University of Warwick. Available at: http://webcat.warwick.ac.uk/record=b2863284~S1 (Accessed: 7 January 2021).
• Zepeda, C.S. (2006) The language of hegemony: discourse, power and freedom in El Salvador’s neoliberal development agenda: The CAFTA case. Master’s degree Thesis. International Institute of Social Studies (ISS), Erasmus University of Rotterdam. Available at: https://thesis.eur.nl/pub/44190/ (Accessed: 7 January 2021).

Books Chapters

• Ferrero y De Loma-Osorio, G. and Zepeda, C. (2019) ‘Planning and Managing for Human Development: What Contribution Can the Capability Approach Make?’, in D.A. Clark, M. Biggeri, and A.A. Frediani (eds) The Capability Approach, Empowerment and Participation: Concepts, Methods and Applications. London: Palgrave Macmillan UK (Rethinking International Development series), pp. 311–338. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-35230-9_12.

Research Articles

• Zepeda, C. (2025) ‘Integrating the ethics of integral ecologies into global environmental governance’, Journal of Global Ethics, 21(1), pp. 102–113. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/17449626.2025.2491365.
• Huang, Z., Du, X. and Zepeda, C. (2019) ‘How does urbanization affect farmland protection? Evidence from China’, Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 145, pp. 139–147. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2018.12.023.

Policy Papers

• Deneulin, S. et al. (2024) Faith-Based Participation in Natural Resources Governance: Communities Defending Life and Territories in Brazil, Colombia and Mexico. Oxford and Washington: World Resources Institute and the Laudato Si’ Research Institute (LSRI), Campion Hall, University of Oxford.
• Zepeda, C.S. and Galligan, B. (2023) Integral Ecology in Research Practice: Methodological Insights for Transformative Change. Briefing Note 6. Oxford, England: Laudato Si’ Research Institute, Campion Hall, University of Oxford. Available at: https://lsri.campion.ox.ac.uk/publications/integral-ecology-research-practice-methodological-insights-transformative-change.
• Zepeda, C. and Deneulin, S. (2022) Integral Ecology in Practice: Reflections on its Key Pillars. Briefing Note 4. Oxford, England: Laudato Si’ Research Institute, Campion Hall, University of Oxford. Available at: https://lsri.campion.ox.ac.uk/publications/integral-ecology-practice-reflections-its-key-pillars.
• Thorpe, A. and Zepeda, C. (2018) ‘The economic value of inland fisheries’, in S. Funge Smith (ed.) Review of the State of the World Fishery Resources: Inland Fisheries. Rome: FAO (FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Circular). Available at: http://www.fao.org/3/CA0388EN/ca0388en.pdf.
• Zepeda, C.S. (2012) Water for Life or for Trade. Brussels: CIFCA, ALOP, Grupo Sur and OIDHACO. Available at: https://www.oidhaco.org/en/water-for-trade-or-for-life-2/.

Media Articles

• Reddin, C., Deneulin, S. and Zepeda, C. (2024) ‘How Faith Communities in Latin America Are Defending Land and Lives’. Available at: https://www.wri.org/insights/faith-groups-in-latin-america-defending-land-and-lives (Accessed: 2 August 2024).
• Zepeda, C. (2021) Reflection: World Overshoot Day, Jesuit Missions. Available at: https://jesuitmissions.org.uk/reflection-world-overshoot-day/ (Accessed: 5 October 2021).
• Zepeda, C. (2019) ‘Bolsonaro’s Myth of Ever-Higher Growth Leads Brazilians Towards Abyss’, The Globe Post, 22 April. Available at: https://theglobepost.com/2019/04/22/bolsonaro-brazil-boitata/ (Accessed: 1 August 2020).
• Zepeda, C. (2018) Jair Bolsonaro will now run into Brazil’s massive grassroots movements of resistance, The Conversation. Available at: http://theconversation.com/jair-bolsonaro-will-now-run-into-brazils-massive-grassroots-movements-of-resistance-106024 (Accessed: 1 August 2020).

For a full list of research outputs and publications please see his Research Profile.