debating progressive politics in Europe and beyond
The issue of climate change is unlikely to play much of a role in the US Presidential election campaign, which will begin in June with the nomination of a Republican candidate to face Barack Obama. It may however, have already decided the outcome, by ensuring that any possible Republican nominee is unelectable. The Republican position [...]
It is remarkable how willingly governments have surrendered national sovereignty to S&P and the bond markets while ceding sovereignty on carbon emissions governance to a UN body is anathema. The power of finance to blackmail governments seems much stronger than the power of nature – at least so far. What will act as the sword [...]
Holding the UN climate change conference in Durban is appropriate: climate change matters more to Africa than anywhere else. The African climate is set to become hotter and more volatile, exposing the region’s poor to heightened risk due to heavy dependence upon rain-fed agriculture. This alone would incline Africa to be at the forefront of [...]
The heart of the sustainability debate is not philosophical but scientific. There is a massive body of evidence about climate change, pollution, resource depletion and other negative effects that stem directly and indirectly from human activity – more specifically, from much of conventional economic activity. (See, for example, New Scientist’s basic introduction). It is impossible [...]
Environmentalism is the tree that grew in the shade. When the modern environmental movement first flowered in the early 1970s, its intellectual genesis was soon overshadowed by a profound convulsion in the political economies of western democracies. The breakdown of the Keynesian consensus ushered in a much more free-market variant of capitalism – ironically, at [...]
It sometimes appears that politicians’ concerns about global warming overheating is inversely proportional to scientists’ fears. Even committed political players appear increasingly resigned to largely letting things run their course. They do so even though there are veritable doomsday scenarios associated with global warming, and even the more standard scientific fare predicts a significant decline [...]
There is no question about it: social democrats need to embrace environmental sustainability. Protecting our natural surroundings, keeping our air clean, providing a healthy environment and access to nature for everyone should be at the core of social democratic policies, just like providing economic and social sustainability should be. However, we have to admit that [...]
‘9/11’ is a term known across the world. The notion of the ‘war on terror’ reached across continents. ‘Sub-prime markets’ was a concept of the few before it became widely understood as a trigger of the global financial crisis. Weather patterns in southern Africa used to be understood as an act of God; they are [...]
We live in an era in which the most important forces affecting every economy are global, not local. What happens “abroad” – in China, India, and elsewhere – powerfully affects even an economy as large as the United States. Economic globalization has, of course, produced some large benefits for the world, including the rapid spread [...]
How much of Europe is covered in forest? How much of the world’s forest is in Europe? Are Europe’s forests growing or shrinking? According to a report (via the BBC) issued today, entitled State of Europe’s Forests 2011, I would have got the answers to all three (had I actually asked myself these questions) wrong. [...]
The Guardian reports as yet unpublished figures from the International Energy Agency showing a record annual increase in CO2 emissions and a record absolute level in 2010. Climate experts warn that the agreed goal of keeping climate change within 2 degrees is rapidly becoming unattainable. The new numbers confirm a number of things we already [...]
It was a party with a lot of self-confidence that gathered for a conference in Karlstad in western Sweden this weekend. The Swedish Green Party see themselves as riding on top of the great contemporary green wave. And certainly there is cause for confidence. Climate change is the greatest challenge of our time and the party has [...]
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