An Underwhelming Truth
From awareness to action on climate change
2006 was the year of the eco-issue, Priuses on back-order, "An Inconvenient Truth" and Arnold Schwarzenegger's green coup. But is sustainability’s new look only skin deep?
We've got global challenges - can Europe deal?
at 6:54pm on Tuesday, 10th October 2006
An impressive list of speakers joined the LSE event The Global Age: Europe, India, China last night where Tony Giddens was launching two books, both on the challenges to (and strengths of) the European social model. Europe's welfare states are in need of reform, but the European approach of 'social investment' is the only way forward. The major challenges facing the world today are global - climate change was often mentioned. And though the US, India and China are important powers, it is Europe's model that is the most resilient and experienced in facing these global problems. It has proven itself with the 'mini globalisation' of European enlargement, and will be a major force in the changing geopolitical map of the world in the future. (See more on the talk at Globalab.)
On the topic of climate change, I was interested that Tony Giddens seemed to imply that being 'green' was about being unreasonably attached to preserving a state of nature, when instead we must convince people to change their lifestyles and 'integrate environment into the rights and responsibilities of the citizen'.
This idea is not something new to most 'greens' I know (and especially not to those at Giddens' own LSE) but it highlights how we seem to be repeating some of the same environmental arguments today, only in a context of greater overall awareness. Discussions around behaviour change (see the 2003 report by James Wilsdon and Green Alliance), market mechanisms (Green and Competitive, 1995) and efficiency (Rocky Mountain Institute) are not brand new concepts, though some may have just discovered them. Some of the evidence around climate change might be new (yesterday's independent article) but maybe the evidence is just easier - politically or socially - to talk about.
I welcome all the interest and awareness, and hope that we're really able to (FINALLY) turn this into action which results in reductions of consumption, whether of petroleum or other goods. in the past, some countries have achieved decoupling of consumption and economic growth - especially in Denmark and Japan - and therefore relative reductions, but absolute reductions are a much more difficult proposition.
On the topic of climate change, I was interested that Tony Giddens seemed to imply that being 'green' was about being unreasonably attached to preserving a state of nature, when instead we must convince people to change their lifestyles and 'integrate environment into the rights and responsibilities of the citizen'.
This idea is not something new to most 'greens' I know (and especially not to those at Giddens' own LSE) but it highlights how we seem to be repeating some of the same environmental arguments today, only in a context of greater overall awareness. Discussions around behaviour change (see the 2003 report by James Wilsdon and Green Alliance), market mechanisms (Green and Competitive, 1995) and efficiency (Rocky Mountain Institute) are not brand new concepts, though some may have just discovered them. Some of the evidence around climate change might be new (yesterday's independent article) but maybe the evidence is just easier - politically or socially - to talk about.
I welcome all the interest and awareness, and hope that we're really able to (FINALLY) turn this into action which results in reductions of consumption, whether of petroleum or other goods. in the past, some countries have achieved decoupling of consumption and economic growth - especially in Denmark and Japan - and therefore relative reductions, but absolute reductions are a much more difficult proposition.
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