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Planetary challenges
The evidence of climate change
The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is made
up of 2000 of the world’s leading climate change scientists. Its position
is clear:climate change and global warming are a real and present threat
and they are caused by the vast amounts of greenhouse gases (principally
in the form of carbon dioxide) that we as human beings have been
pumping into the earth’s atmosphere by our continued burning of fossil
fuels (IPCC,2013).Research published in the journal Nature Geoscience
in May 2013 shows the probability that warming will reach about four
degrees centigrade above pre-industrial levels if the temperature readings
of the past decade are taken into account.An increase in temperature of
four degrees centigrade could lead to potential catastrophe across large
areas of planet earth, causing droughts, floods, storms and heatwaves (as
quoted in The Guardian, 20 May 2013).
In its 2011World Energy Outlook (WEO),the International Energy
Authority (IEA), which has traditionally adopted a cautious approach
to the issue of climate change,argued that the world was locking itself
into an unsustainable energy future. Its chief economist, Fatih Birol,
has argued that ‘As each year passes without clear signals to drive
investment in clean energy, the lock in of high carbon infrastructure
is making it harder and more expensive to meet our energy security
and climate changes’ (IEA, 2011). The WEO has set out what it
terms a ‘450 Scenario’, which ‘traces an energy path consistent with
meeting the globally agreed goal of limiting the temperature rise to
2°C’ (IEA, 2011). Of energy-related carbon dioxide emissions, 80%
are already locked in by existing infrastructure, such as factories and
power stations.‘Without further action by 2017’, the IEA concludes,
‘the energy related infrastructure then in place would generate all the
CO2
[carbon dioxide] emissions allowed in the 450 Scenario up to
2035’ (IEA, 2011).
In addition,the UN Framework on Climate Change has concluded
that at current levels,within 25 years,the world will have emitted all the
greenhouse gases that the atmosphere can cope with for all of the 21st
century.TheWorldWide Fund for Nature (WWF) has calculated that
if everyone in the world lived the average lifestyle of those in North
America, we would need five planet earths.
Climate change was first identified as a potential threat to the health
of the planet in the late 19th century but it was not until the late 1980s
that the issue really started to come to prominence. On 23 June 1988,
James Hansen,a US scientist with the NationalAeronautics and Space
Administration (NASA) gave evidence to the US Senate. He told the](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/2656960-250725203711-6a347ec7/75/The-Challenge-Of-Sustainability-Linking-Politics-Education-And-Learning-Hugh-Atkinson-32-2048.jpg)
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Planetary challenges
Tackling climate change is the most important challenge facing the
world today. It is a matter of both climate justice and social justice.
However, tackling the challenge of climate change and building a
more sustainable world cannot be brought about by a few techno fixes.
Rather,it presents us with a series of other economic,social and political
challenges that must be faced up to.These have huge implications for
education and learning and for how we do politics.
Delivering on sustainability: challenges and
opportunities
The challenge of tackling climate change and building a more
sustainable world is complex, multilayered and hugely problematic.
At times, it can seem so daunting that its resolution can appear nigh
on impossible. But it is a challenge that we simply cannot afford to
duck. As such, it necessitates a multilayered response on the part of
civil society, business and the state. It requires action at the local,
national, regional and global levels.To analyse both this challenge and
the opportunities to meet this challenge, I will now focus on three
specific but interrelated themes,namely:economy and society,energy
policy, and the politics of it all.
Economy and society
Since the end of the Second World War, the dominant economic
paradigm has been one of economic growth (measured by gross
domestic product [GDP]) as the key to material happiness and well-
being.It came to dominate political discourse and public policymaking.
It became the normal way of doing economics. The emergence of
neoliberal economics in the 1980s and 1990s strengthened this process
even further.There developed a strong belief among many politicians,
elites and key decision-makers that markets were ‘the primary means
for achieving the public good’ (Sandel, 2012, p 6).
One might have expected the 2007/08 international financial
crisis and credit crunch, a product of reckless banking practices, a
consumerism bubble and high levels of personal indebtedness,to have
forced a radical rethink of the way we do economics.After all,the crisis
did almost bring the global economy to its knees. It was only rescued
by a strong dose of good old-fashioned Keynesian social democracy,
as governments worldwide pumped huge amounts of money into the
banking system.Indeed,commentators such as Michael Sandel (2012,
p 6) have argued that ‘The era of market triumphalism has come to](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/2656960-250725203711-6a347ec7/75/The-Challenge-Of-Sustainability-Linking-Politics-Education-And-Learning-Hugh-Atkinson-38-2048.jpg)
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The challenge of sustainability
Leach et al (2010, p 1) write of the ‘ever more urgent search for big,
technically driven, managerial solutions’.
One approach that has come on to the scientific agenda is that of
geo-engineering,which is an attempt to engineer the climate (Spectre,
2012).But,as Roy Butterfield,emeritus professor of civil engineering,
argues, the global climate is universally acknowledged to be a non-
linear, dynamic and chaotic system. In this context,‘Geo engineering
is,unfortunately,a totally impractical concept’,with the added danger
‘that it could be used politically as an excuse for delaying further the
drastic measures needed’ to tackle climate change and build a more
sustainable world (Butterfield, 2012).
For some,the solution to the problems of environmental degradation
is to be found in the concept of ecological modernisation. Ecological
modernisation is an attempt to square the circle of economic growth and
sustainable development by increasing‘the environmental efficiency of
the economy through the use of new and clean technologies’(Connelly
and Smith, 2003, p 67). Such a process is known as ‘decoupling’,
allowing more economic activity with less environmental damage.For
example, there is some evidence, as Jackson (2011, p 69) points out,
that there has been an increased efficiency in the use of resources for
each unit of economic output,leading to‘declining [carbon] emission
densities’. Jackson (2011, p 68) describes such a process as ‘relative
decoupling’.The problem is that as economic output has increased
globally, so has the overall scale of carbon dioxide emissions. Carbon
dioxide emissions are 40% higher today than they were in 1990.There
is simply no evidence of‘absolute decoupling’.For Jackson (2011,p 76),
decoupling as an approach to deal with the ‘dilemma of growth’ is
‘fundamentally flawed’.One example of the ecological modernisation
and decoupling approaches is that of the Green Economy.
The Green Economy
The so-called ‘Green Economy’ is regarded in some circles as the
holy grail in terms of moving towards a more sustainable world and
tackling climate change.For others,it is akin to the‘myth of the perfect
gadget’,as described earlier.It was central to discussions and debates at
the 2012 UN Conference on Sustainable Development (commonly
known as Rio+20).
The Green Economy is predicated on the assumption that green
or sustainable growth can be achieved by utilising the latest science
and technology. It is part of the mainstream thinking within the UN
and international development circles. But the concept of the Green](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/2656960-250725203711-6a347ec7/75/The-Challenge-Of-Sustainability-Linking-Politics-Education-And-Learning-Hugh-Atkinson-41-2048.jpg)
The Challenge Of Sustainability Linking Politics Education And Learning Hugh Atkinson
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- 5. Edited by HughAtkinson and Ros Wade the CHALLENGE of SUSTAINABILITY LINKING POLITICS, EDUCATION AND LEARNING
- 6. THE CHALLENGE OF SUSTAINABILITY Linkingpolitics, education and learning Edited by Hugh Atkinson and Ros Wade
- 7. First published inGreat Britain in 2015 by Policy Press North America office: University of Bristol Policy Press 1-9 Old Park Hill c/o The University of Chicago Press Bristol BS2 8BB 1427 East 60th Street UK Chicago, IL 60637, USA t: +44 (0)117 954 5940 t: +1 773 702 7700 [email protected] f: +1 773-702-9756 www.policypress.co.uk [email protected] www.press.uchicago.edu © Policy Press 2015 British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A catalog record for this book has been requested ISBN 978 1 44730 646 7 hardcover The right of Hugh Atkinson and Ros Wade to be identified as editors of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with the 1988 Copyright, Designs and Patents Act. All rights reserved: no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission of Policy Press. The statements and opinions contained within this publication are solely those of the editors and contributors and not of the University of Bristol or Policy Press.The University of Bristol and Policy Press disclaim responsibility for any injury to persons or property resulting from any material published in this publication. Policy Press works to counter discrimination on grounds of gender, race, disability, age and sexuality. Cover design by Policy Press Front cover image: www.alamy.com Printed and bound in Great Britain by CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon, CR0 4YY Policy Press uses environmentally responsible print partners
- 8. iii Contents List of tablesand figures v List of abbreviations and acronyms vi Notes on terminology viii Notes on contributors ix Preface xi Introduction 1 Hugh Atkinson and RosWade Part One: The challenge of sustainability: politics, education and learning One Planetary challenges: the agenda laid bare 11 Hugh Atkinson Two The politics of sustainability: democracy and the limits of 43 policy action StuartWilks-Heeg Three: Learning, pedagogy and sustainability: the challenges for 63 education policy and practice RosWade PartTwo: What is to be done? Case studies in politics, education and learning Four Climate change and environmental policy in the US: 89 lessons in political action Hugh Atkinson Five ‘Greening’ the European Union? The Europeanisation of 105 European Union environment policy John O’Brennan Six Rethinking globalisation through convergence: active 131 learning for social movements Jenneth Parker PartThree: What is to be done? Case studies in learning for sustainability from across the globe Seven The challenge of sustainability in sub-Saharan Africa – the 153 implications for education policy and practice RosWade, withVincent Muhumaza, Chikondi Musange and Heinrich Rukundo
- 9. iv The challenge ofsustainability Eight Regional centres of expertise as mobilising mechanisms 181 for education for sustainable development Roger A. Petry, Lyle M. Benko,Takaaki Koganezawa, Tomonori Ichinose and Mary Otieno, with RosWade Nine Social media and sustainability: the right to the city 205 John Blewitt Part Four: Emerging themes and future scenarios Ten Emerging themes and future scenarios 229 Hugh Atkinson and RosWade Afterword 239 Hugh Atkinson and RosWade Index 241
- 10. v List of tablesand figures Tables 1.1 Percentage greenhouse gas emissions per country, 17 2012 5.1 Glossary of European Union institutions and 108 decision-making Figures 1.1 Sustainable development 13 1.2 Sustainable development: the ecological limit 14 1.3 Atmospheric greenhouse gases, 1900–2012 16 1.4 Average global surface temperatures, 1900–2012 18 6.1 The convergence quadrant 141
- 11. vi The challenge ofsustainability List of abbreviations and acronyms ACCU Asia-Pacific Cultural Centre for UNESCO BSM benefit-sharing mechanism CAP Common Agricultural Policy CCS carbon capture and storage DCSF Department for Children, Schools and Families DCE Domasi College of Education DE development education DESD Decade for Education for Sustainable Development DG Directorate General EAP environment action programmes EC European Community ECJ European Court of Justice EDDR education for disaster risk reduction and redevelopment EE environmental education EFA education for all EKC environmental Kuznet’s curve EIA environmental impact assessment EPA Environmental Protection Agency EPI environmental policy integration ESD education for sustainable development ETS emissions trading scheme EU European Union GATS General Agreement on Trade in Services GDP gross domestic product GHG greenhouse gases GMR Global Monitoring Report GW gigawatt HE higher education HEIs higher education institutions ICT information and communication technology IEA International Energy Authority IK indigenous knowledge IPCC Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change LGR local government representatives MDG Millennium Development Goals MESA Mainstreaming Environment and Sustainability across African Universities
- 12. vii MFF Multi-annual FinancialFramework NASA National Aeronautics and Space Administration NCADAC National Climate Assessment and Development Advisory Committee NCAR National Centre for Atmospheric Research NEMA National Environmental Management Agency NGO non-governmental organisation NOAA National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration NRDC National Resources Defence Council NSIDC National Snow and Ice Data Centre NYBE nine-year basic education ppm parts per million OMC open method of coordination QMV qualified majority voting RCE regional centre for expertise RCEGN Regional Centre for Expertise Greater Nairobi RE renewable energy RSPB Royal Society for the Protection of Birds SDG Sustainable Development Goals SDS Sustainable Development Strategy SEA Single European Act SSA sub-Saharan Africa STEM science, technology, engineering and maths TFEU Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union UDP Uranium Development Partnership UN United Nations UNDP United Nations Development Programme UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation UNFCCC United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change UNRISD United Nations Research Institute for Social Development UNU United Nations University WEO World Energy Outlook WSSD World Summit on Sustainable Development WWF World Wide Fund for Nature List of abbreviations and acronyms
- 13. viii The challenge ofsustainability Notes on terminology While we recognise that a great deal of terminology is open to question and critical examination, terms that may be included in this book include: • ‘majority world’ to refer to the majority global population in countries that benefit least from the global economy. Other terms used include ‘Southern’ (most countries in this position are in the southern hemisphere) and ‘developing’ countries; • ‘minority world’ to refer to the wealthy, industrialised countries. Other terms include ‘Northern’ countries (most countries in this position are in the northern hemisphere) and‘developed’countries. All these terms are problematic and contain a mixture of political and cultural implications and are therefore used with caution.While we acknowledge that there are no terms that can fully describe the current complex global political and economic terrain, nonetheless, they can be a useful shorthand. However, we note that they are generalisations that do not fully represent, for example, the emerging economies of the BRIC nations (Brazil,Russia,India and China),nor the emerging economies of post-communist states.
- 14. ix Notes on contributors HughAtkinson is senior lecturer in politics at London South Bank University. He is the author of Local democracy, civic engagement and community: from New Labour to the big society (Manchester University Press,2012).He is a founder member of the Political StudiesAssociation specialist group on environmental politics. Lyle M. Benko has 40 years’ professional experience in formal and non-formal education. He is president of LAMB Environmental and Educational Consulting. In March 2011, he was the recipient of the Saskatchewan Eco-Network Provincial Environment Activist Award. John Blewitt is director of the MSc in social responsibility and sustainability at Aston University. He is the author of Understanding sustainable development (Routledge-Earthscan, 2014). Tomonori Ichinose is a professor at the Miyagi University of Education whose research interests include diversity education and education for sustainable development. Takaaki Koganezawa is professor of education at the University of Miyagi, Japan, visiting professor at the United Nations University Institute of Advanced Studies and secretary of the Regional Centre for Expertise Greater Sendai. John O’Brennan lectures in European politics and society at the National University of Ireland, Maynooth. He is the author of The European Union and the western Balkans:from stabilisation to normalisation and EU membership (Routledge, 2014). Mary Otieno is a lecturer in the School of Education at Kenyatta University,Nairobi,Kenya.Mary is a member of the steering committee of the Regional Centre for Expertise Greater Nairobi. She has wide experience in training, research and publication in education for sustainable development. Jenneth Parker is research director at the Schumacher Institute for Sustainable Solutions,Bristol,with 20 years’experience in learning for sustainability. Her most recent publication is ‘Critiquing sustainability, changing philosophy’. She has provided policy advice for the United
- 15. x The challenge ofsustainability Nations Science and Cultural Organisation and, more recently, the Welsh Assembly Government. Roger A.Petry is an assistant professor of philosophy at the University of Regina,Canada.His research interests include university innovation for sustainability and strategic dimensions in moving to sustainable production systems. He is co-coordinator of Regional Centre of Expertise Saskatchewan. Ros Wade is professor of education for sustainable development at London South Bank University and director of the international Education for Sustainability programme. She chairs the London Regional Centre of Expertise in education for sustainable development. Her recent publications include a chapter on ‘Promoting sustainable communities locally and globally’in S.Sterling,L.Maxey and H.Luna (eds) The sustainable university (Routledge, 2013). StuartWilks-Heeg is senior lecturer in social policy at the University of Liverpool and was the director of the Democratic Audit of the United Kingdom from 2009 to 2012.He has written widely on issues concerning the quality of the democratic process and the challenges to it.
- 16. xi Preface For some time,we had been exploring the idea of writing a book on the importance of politics, education and learning in building a more sustainable world. But the idea for such a book only really started to take shape as we chatted over hot coffee and delicious American muffins in the beautiful gardens of the Getty Museum in Los Angeles, California in the summer of 2010. Subsequently, we helped organise academic panels on politics and sustainability at annual conferences of the UK Political Studies Association. Discussions at these panels with academic colleagues helped to sharpen and refine our ideas.This book is a culmination of such various processes. We would very much like to thank our fellow writers for their thoughtful and critical contributions to this book. It has been a real collaborative effort! Our special thanks go to Emily Watt, commissioning editor at Policy Press.Her support and encouragement have been central in getting this book written and published. Building a more sustainable world presents us with many challenges but there are good reasons to feel optimistic for the future.This is the essential message of the book. Hugh Atkinson and RosWade
- 18. 1 Introduction Hugh Atkinson andRosWade The authors of this book come from a range of academic disciplines related to political science or education for sustainable development,but they have one central aim:to analyse the challenges we face in making the changes that are needed in order to build an environmentally, socially and economically sustainable world. The world is facing some very serious social and environmental challenges over the next 50 years.These include climate change,global poverty, inequality, and war and conflict, all set against a backdrop of highly consuming lifestyles and a growing population that is likely to reach 9 billion by the end of the century.Yet, governments have been extremely slow in addressing these issues. One of the obstacles to change has been a reluctance or an inability to integrate social and environmental concerns into policymaking and practice.The concept of sustainable development was devised in order to promote a new way of thinking that incorporates these concerns,and it does provide a new vocabulary of political change.The concept of sustainable development has become increasingly used in mainstream policymaking over the last 10 years,though its meaning and application still remain contested. There are still many tensions evident within both policy and practice between environmental and development issues. Politicians, concerned about winning elections,seem rather reluctant to promote awareness-raising of the major global and local challenges among the general public in any meaningful way. Equally, the general public, or at least significant sections of it, seem unable (or unwilling) to grasp the challenges ahead for both people and the planet.This raises some key questions about our current education systems and their ability to develop the knowledge,understanding and competences that are need for the world in the 21st century.Despite theAgenda 21 commitments of the world’s governments at the 1992 Rio Summit to reorient education systems towards sustainable development,the evidence shows that the process is still very patchy and far from complete. This book explores the links between politics, pedagogy, learning and sustainability. It seeks to answer a fundamental question: how do we move to a politics in which political leaders are honest with voters about the need to fly less,to use less energy,to use our cars less and to forsake the latest high-tech gadgets?This presents a real challenge for
- 19. 2 The challenge ofsustainability the world’s political leaders.Are they capable of making the necessary brave decisions? Such decisions involve spelling out clearly what has to be done if we are to make the world more sustainable and tackle climate change.This will require real sacrifices by consumers in the so-called‘developed’world.How will they respond at the ballot box to such an agenda?Will our political leaders resort to the default position of short-term expediency?There is no magic wand available here but these are issues that need to be seriously addressed.The terms of the debate need to be shifted, so that meeting the challenge of climate change and shaping a more sustainable world is not seen purely in negative terms, but is rather viewed as a real opportunity to build a more sustainable and fulfilling way of life. The book is divided into four parts. Part One looks at the broad challenges for political action and learning in achieving sustainability. It is broken down into three chapters. Part Two looks at case studies in politics, learning and sustainability, and consists of three chapters. Part Three consists of three chapters, which present a number of case studies on learning for sustainability from a range of global regions, set in both urban and rural communities. It looks at sustainability challenges in relation to power, policy and learning. Part Four brings together some of the key themes that have emerged in the first three parts of the book and looks at the future prospects for sustainability and the planet by contrasting two different scenarios. Part One: The challenge of sustainability – politics, education and learning In Chapter One, Hugh Atkinson argues that people and the planet face a number of fundamental challenges in the second decade of the 21st century. These include climate change, increased poverty and rising inequality, deforestation, drought, and rising sea levels.At times, such challenges seem overwhelming.Indeed,there is a real danger of a counsel of despair. It is true that progress on meeting these challenges has appeared painfully slow at times. Politicians and decision-makers have often been guilty of short-term thinking based on the exigencies of the electoral cycle and the demands of our consumerist society when what is needed is long-term strategic thinking. However, the chapter argues that with strong political leadership backed up by pressure from below,there is a clear opportunity to meet these challenges and move towards a more sustainable world. From the Rio Summit of 1992 to the Kyoto Protocol on climate change in 1998, through to the 2015 Millennium Development Goals (MDGs),
- 20. 3 Introduction there is someevidence of a strengthening global agenda to build a more sustainable and equitable world.True, it is a daunting agenda, but it is one that simply cannot be ignored. In Chapter Two, Stuart Wilks-Heeg poses the question of whether democracy can deliver sustainability if the achievement of sustainability requires sacrifices that individuals will be required to impose upon themselves via the ballot box.The chapter argues that there may well be a fundamental tension between representative democracy and policy agendas associated with the reduction of carbon emissions, especially when the latter are interpreted as involving significant individual sacrifice and reduced personal consumption. In the light of this tension,the chapter argues that there are two ways forward for the politics of sustainability. Politicians must either find a means of bringing about a‘smart’redesign of society,in which carbon emissions can be curbed without significant personal sacrifice,or they must seek to secure the ‘informed consent’ of citizens to fundamental shifts in their behaviour and lifestyles through a significantly more participatory model of democracy. In Chapter Three, Ros Wade examines the international education commitments of the 1992 United Nations Earth Summit on environment and development in relation to trends in education policy and practice over the last 20 years.Agenda 21 emphasised the imperative to reorient education systems towards sustainable development and laid out a clear programme for governments.The chapter highlights the urgency of this initiative in turning round the oil tanker of over- consumption and unsustainable lifestyles in the wealthier parts of the world and addressing the challenges of poverty, social justice and environmental destruction in the developing world. However,an overview of current education practice across a range of countries indicates that although policy commitments have increased, practice lags rather far behind. There are clear reasons for this. The last 20 years have seen neoliberal perspectives provide the dominant overarching framework for policymaking. The chapter will argue that marketisation and privatisation trends have frequently skewed educational practice towards unsustainable development.Yet, without a sea change at international and national levels, educational policy will fail to address the huge challenges that the world is facing in the 21st century.
- 21. 4 The challenge ofsustainability PartTwo: What is to be done? Case studies in politics, education and learning In Chapter Four,HughAtkinson analyses the role of the US in respect of the environment and sustainability. Over the last 15 years, there has been an understandable perception of a US with only a limited engagement in the fight against climate change and the broader sustainability agenda.At a federal level,the Bush presidency of 2000 to 2008 certainly lent credence to this view.However,the chapter argues that the actual picture is more nuanced and complex. Of course, there have been, and there will continue to be, obstacles along the way.Too often, the debate in the US is drowned out by the white noise of a divisive and increasingly hysterical political culture. Yet, despite this, there have been a range of initiatives at federal, state and local level that have sought to engage in a positive way with the sustainability agenda. Furthermore, the election of Barak Obama as president seemed to point to a new activism at the federal level of government. In a speech to the United Nations (UN) in September 2009, Obama spoke of the serious threat of climate change and of the pressing need to take action.The chapter examines whether such rhetoric has been matched by substantive policy action.The analysis in this chapter is set with the context of the constitutional doctrine of the separation of powers and a political culture that eschews active government. In Chapter Five, John O’Brennan argues that environmental problems are by their very nature potentially existential and traverse international border demarcations.In Europe,the consensus on collective action has grown over the last two decades as problems as diverse as substandard nuclear plants in Bulgaria and Slovakia and the lethal impact of toxic pollutants released into the River Danube have concentrated more and more attention on the need for a European-wide approach to multidimensional problems. The chapter examines the evolution of European Union (EU) policy in the areas of environment, energy and sustainable development through the lenses of path dependency and historical institutionalism. It argues that environmental policy has developed via a multitude of actors and through a sharing of competences within a multi-level system of governance.Although there remain some very significant challenges for Europe, the cumulative result has been an unprecedented pooling of sovereignty that has enabled the EU to learn and act collectively and forcefully in a vital area of global socio-economic activity.
- 22. 5 Introduction In Chapter Six,Jenneth Parker explores ways of facilitating effective collaboration between environmental and development organisations (as social movements) to meet the political challenges of global sustainability. The chapter posits a new way of thinking, using the concept of convergence as a means to facilitate the development of global equity within planetary boundaries. Convergence is based on an approach to global eco-justice that was developed during the Kyoto climate change talks by the environmental campaigner Aubrey Meyer. It combines the concept of equal rights for all citizens to use the earth’s atmosphere, with a per capita allocation approach. This would mean that rich countries would contract their use of carbon, leaving poorer countries to continue to develop. Convergence would occur when equal levels of development are achieved with sustainable carbon emissions.The chapter looks at the potential of convergence to act as a ‘unifying framework’ for sustainability practitioners involved in the process of developing the new Sustainable Development Goals, as a successor to the Millennium Development Goals that ran from 2000 to 2015. PartThree: What is to be done? Case studies in learning for sustainability from across the globe Chapter Seven presents a number of case studies on education and learning undertaken by postgraduate researchers in education for sustainable development (ESD). The case studies are drawn from Uganda, Rwanda and Malawi. They focus on examples of organisational,local and national change and provide an insight into the interrelationship between local and global issues.Reference is made to the importance of context and appropriacy and to the crucial relevance of local community and indigenous knowledge.The case studies are set within the framework of the politics of knowledge and the challenges that current dominant global knowledge systems pose for ESD. Chapter Eight presents three case studies of regional centres for expertise (RCEs) in ESD.RCEs were set up to achieve the aspirations of the UN Decade for Sustainable Development (DESD),2005–14,and to help create a global learning space for sustainable development.An RCE is a network of formal, informal and non-formal organisations mobilised to act as a catalyst for the delivery of ESD.Although sharing common aims, RCEs have a considerable degree of autonomy and are able to determine their own particular priorities based on local circumstances.
- 23. 6 The challenge ofsustainability The three case studies are:RCE Saskatchewan,Canada;RCE Greater Sendai, Japan; and RCE Greater Nairobi, Kenya.These RCEs have all grown up organically and have been developed by a variety of social actors and stakeholders in their respective regions.They all have different focuses and have responded in different ways to the challenges of sustainability.This is a good example of subsidiarity in terms of ESD policymaking and practice. The case studies are framed within the context of civil society organisations and social movements, with an analysis of the impact and effectiveness of RCEs as agents for change. In Chapter Nine,John Blewitt makes the important point that over half the world’s population lives in cities and that this is increasing exponentially.As a consequence, the ‘natural’ world is predominantly urban, as is the global economy.The chapter argues that the fate of the planet depends upon the nature of our urban future. If we are to achieve social and environmental justice within the city, there needs to be a transformed and renewed right to urban life.Rights and urban citizenship – and,to a significant degree,social learning for sustainability – entail active engagement in the public realm and genuinely public spaces and places. Part Four: Emerging themes and future scenarios ChapterTen starts with an analysis of some of the key themes that have emerged in the course of writing this book.These include: • the importance of the link and the interrelationship between politics, education and learning in meeting the challenges of sustainability; • the need to challenge the current educational paradigm and reshape education systems towards sustainable development; • the realisation that traditional neoliberal growth models are proving increasingly dysfunctional for people and the planet;yet,despite this, neoliberalism remains robust in influential policy circles; • the crucial importance of tackling climate change if we are to achieve environmental and social justice; and • the need for a more honest engagement by politicians with the public about the challenges that creating a more sustainable world presents. It concludes by setting out two alternative scenarios for the future of people and the planet. So, what is the central message of this book? It is all too easy to feel overwhelmed by the challenge of building a more sustainable world
- 24. 7 Introduction for both peopleand the planet. For, as Wilkinson and Pickett (2010, p xi) note,‘We live in a pessimistic period.As well as being worried by the likely consequences of global warming,it is easy to feel that many societies are, despite their material success, increasingly burdened by their social failings’. However, even against such a background, there is still much cause to be positive. For, asWilkinson and Pickett (2010, p xi) go on to argue, once we acknowledge that we cannot go on as before,that change is necessary,then this realisation itself must give us grounds for optimism: maybe we do, at last, have the chance to make a better world. The contributors to this book share this optimism. However, we need a fundamental change in the way we do politics, economics and education. The challenges that we face today in combating climate change and building a more sustainable world are complex and multifaceted.As such,they need to be approached in a holistic way by adopting joined-up solutions for joined-up problems.We all have a stake in this.Academics from all disciplines need to break out of their silos and work in a much more interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary manner.To this end,the book will combine both political science and ESD analysis of the challenges of sustainability and climate change. Political science can facilitate analysis of political motivation, ideological position and political constraints in respect of promoting sustainability and tackling climate change. Political science also offers important insights into how political systems operate and the power relations within them. It helps us to understand the role of pressure groups and social movements in shaping the policy process.At the same time,ESD can help political science become more action-oriented in addressing key global challenges. Congruent to these are the ongoing tensions between the environmental and development agendas and this is where ESD can provide a framework for discussion and strategic action.ESD has a key role in helping to address these tensions and in enabling politicians and decision-makers to move towards a clearer, more fully conceptualised and integrated view of sustainable development. By its very nature, ESD also necessitates the forming of links across subject disciplines, across ministries and departments, and across formal and non-formal actors. Here, political science has a key role in understanding the nature of policy change and implementation. There is a real need to shift the terms of the debate so that building a more sustainable world is seen as an opportunity to build a more fulfilling way of life,with a focus on well-being and human happiness at the centre of the policy agenda. However, this will require a major psychological adjustment on the part of both the public and political
- 25. 8 The challenge ofsustainability leaders.In any case,we have no option but to try to make things work for the better.Planet earth is the only home we have.There is no escape route to Mars! So, let us give it a go. It might even be fun! Reference Wilkinson,R.and Pickett,K.(2010) The spirit level: why equality is better for everyone, London: Penguin Books.
- 26. Part One The challengeof sustainability: politics, education and learning
- 28. 11 ONE Planetary challenges: the agendalaid bare Hugh Atkinson Introduction We are now living in what has been described as the anthropocene era. It is an argument that the impact of human behaviour on the planet over a consolidated period of time has been so significant as to constitute a new geological epoch. This is no more evident than in the challenge of climate change. There is now an overwhelming consensus in the scientific community that climate change is happening and that it is the result of human activity in the shape of the extensive use of fossil fuels such as oil,coal and gas,which we have been devouring since the dawn of the Industrial Revolution.To put it simply,we have taken carbon that has been stored under the earth for thousands of years, burnt it and, in the process, released large amounts of carbon dioxide gas into the earth’s atmosphere. Carbon dioxide acts as a‘greenhouse’gas,trapping additional heat from the sun in the earth’s atmosphere.As a consequence, the temperature in the earth’s atmosphere is rising steadily but inexorably, with untold consequences for both people and the planet. In addition, we have cut down vast acres of the world’s forests (which could have acted as a carbon sink by absorbing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere) in a relentless pursuit of economic growth.We simply cannot go on like this.There is no option but to meet the challenge of climate change as part of a broader agenda to develop a more sustainable way of living. The warning signs are there for all to see. Rising sea levels, the undermining of our ecosystems,biodiversity under threat,desertification and the depletion of water resources present us with a number of significant environmental and public policy challenges. Globally, each year we are using 50% more of the earth’s resources than the planet can replenish (WWF, 2012, p 16). Planet earth is being degraded in front of our very eyes.The human impact of all of this becomes clearer each day, with threats to human health, livelihoods and food security
- 29. 12 The challenge ofsustainability that bring in their wake the potential for political,social and economic insecurity and instability.As the German Advisory Council on Global Change argues: ‘Rapidly progressing, unabated climate change will constitute a crisis for humankind’ (WGBU, 2011, p 33). Viewed at one level,such challenges seem overwhelming,intractable and nigh on impossible to resolve.Yet, viewed on another level, the challenge we face is really quite simple. We live on a planet whose physical resources are finite.Yet,our increasingly consumerist lifestyles (especially those in the so-called developed world) are eating up these resources at an ever-increasing rate, releasing vast quantities of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, with huge implications for the climate and the well-being of planet earth.We need a transformative change in the way we do things, with sustainability at the core of our thinking and our actions. Sustainability and sustainable development ‘Sustainability’and‘sustainable development’are relatively new concepts in public policy discourse.As a result,there is an ongoing and contested debate as to both their meaning and their practical applicability.Some commentators ascribe different meanings to the two concepts (Jones and Evans, 2008, p 85).The definitional arguments can be somewhat complicated and even obtuse. For the purposes of this chapter, I will be using ‘sustainability’ and ‘sustainable development’ interchangeably. Since the United Nations (UN) Conference on Sustainable Development in 1992 (the so-called Rio Earth Summit),sustainability has become a key policy paradigm at global,regional,national and local levels.One widely accepted definition of‘sustainability’is that given by the 1987 UN Commission on Environment and Development,which is more commonly known as the Bruntland Report.Bruntland defined sustainable development as ‘Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs’ (UN, 1987).The sustainability agenda looks beyond the economic growth model that has largely dominated public policy since the end of the Second World War. It looks at policy proposals and policy solutions in a more integrated and holistic way. It focuses on issues such as social justice,the protection and enhancement of the natural environment, and sustainable economic growth that involves the prudent use of natural resources. Building on the work of the Bruntland Report,the 1992 Rio Summit set out three distinctive but interrelated elements of sustainability. They comprised the environmental, the social (which includes social
- 30. 13 Planetary challenges justice andpoverty reduction) and the economic.The challenge for sustainability is in achieving the appropriate balance between these three elements. Over time, different weightings have been given to these three elements,depending upon the policy context and the actors involved. Sustainability is a highly politicised (in the broadest sense of the word) policy area. One way to view sustainable development is as a set of three circles; the point where these circles interlock is where sustainable development is taking place (see Figure 1.1). However, such a diagrammatic explanation fails to take into account the fact that we are governed by a set of substantive ecological limits on planet earth. Resources are not infinite. We need to live within planetary boundaries if we are to safeguard our life support system, namely,planet earth.Therefore,a more realistic way to view sustainable development is as three concentric circles,with economic activity and social development taking place within the context of finite ecological limits (see Figure 1.2). Such a perspective links to the call in the post-2015 Millennium Development Goal (MDG) review process for a redefinition of sustainable development as ‘Development that meets the needs of the present while safeguarding the Earth’s support system, on which the welfare of current and future generations depends’ (Schumacher Institute, 2013). Figure 1.1: Sustainable development Figure 4: Sustainable development ecological economic social
- 31. 14 The challenge ofsustainability Tackling climate change Tackling climate change is a central element of the sustainability agenda but it sits alongside a number of other very important elements.These include promoting social and economic justice,eradicating poverty,and supporting human rights. However, in a real sense, tackling climate is effectively key to achieving many of the objectives of the sustainability agenda.To take one example, by virtue of its geographical location, sub-Saharan Africa in particular has been suffering from some of the worst impacts of climate change. Forecasts are for this to continue. Droughts will become more extensive and more prolonged, bringing increased desertification,with major consequences for agriculture and water supplies in a continent that has already been disproportionately affected by poverty. As Ehresman and Stevis (2011, p 88) note: ‘the developing world – will likely be hit the worst by climate change’. Yet, the developing world bears the least responsibility for the causes of climate change. In this context, Giddens (2011, p 213) talks of the crucial link between tackling climate change and promoting social justice.There is also the broader issue of the link between social justice and our consumerist culture, which swallows up ever-more of the earth’s resources.The resultant ‘environmental damage’, as Hannigan (2011,p 53) argues,‘falls disproportionately and severely on the poor’. Figure 1.2: Sustainable development: the ecological limit Figure 5: Sustainable development ecological limits social limits economic limits
- 32. 15 Planetary challenges The evidenceof climate change The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is made up of 2000 of the world’s leading climate change scientists. Its position is clear:climate change and global warming are a real and present threat and they are caused by the vast amounts of greenhouse gases (principally in the form of carbon dioxide) that we as human beings have been pumping into the earth’s atmosphere by our continued burning of fossil fuels (IPCC,2013).Research published in the journal Nature Geoscience in May 2013 shows the probability that warming will reach about four degrees centigrade above pre-industrial levels if the temperature readings of the past decade are taken into account.An increase in temperature of four degrees centigrade could lead to potential catastrophe across large areas of planet earth, causing droughts, floods, storms and heatwaves (as quoted in The Guardian, 20 May 2013). In its 2011World Energy Outlook (WEO),the International Energy Authority (IEA), which has traditionally adopted a cautious approach to the issue of climate change,argued that the world was locking itself into an unsustainable energy future. Its chief economist, Fatih Birol, has argued that ‘As each year passes without clear signals to drive investment in clean energy, the lock in of high carbon infrastructure is making it harder and more expensive to meet our energy security and climate changes’ (IEA, 2011). The WEO has set out what it terms a ‘450 Scenario’, which ‘traces an energy path consistent with meeting the globally agreed goal of limiting the temperature rise to 2°C’ (IEA, 2011). Of energy-related carbon dioxide emissions, 80% are already locked in by existing infrastructure, such as factories and power stations.‘Without further action by 2017’, the IEA concludes, ‘the energy related infrastructure then in place would generate all the CO2 [carbon dioxide] emissions allowed in the 450 Scenario up to 2035’ (IEA, 2011). In addition,the UN Framework on Climate Change has concluded that at current levels,within 25 years,the world will have emitted all the greenhouse gases that the atmosphere can cope with for all of the 21st century.TheWorldWide Fund for Nature (WWF) has calculated that if everyone in the world lived the average lifestyle of those in North America, we would need five planet earths. Climate change was first identified as a potential threat to the health of the planet in the late 19th century but it was not until the late 1980s that the issue really started to come to prominence. On 23 June 1988, James Hansen,a US scientist with the NationalAeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) gave evidence to the US Senate. He told the
- 33. 16 The challenge ofsustainability assembled senators that he was 99% certain that the record temperatures that year in the US were not the result of natural variations, but the result of growing concentrations of carbon dioxide in the earth’s atmosphere.‘It is time to stop waffling so much’, argued Hansen,‘and say that the evidence is pretty strong that the greenhouse effect is here’ (Flavin and Engelman, 2009, p 6). In the 25 years since Hansen gave his testimony,that scientific evidence has grown stronger and stronger. Atmospheric greenhouse gases, 1900 to 2012 Figure 1.3 shows the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere from 1900 to 2012 as measured in parts per million (ppm). It shows a clear and demonstrable upward trend in such emissions.This upward trend has continued since 2012. In May 2013, the American National Oceanic and Atmosphere Administration (NOAA) observatory in Mauna Loa Hawaii recorded emission levels beyond the milestone of 400 ppm. It is salutary to note that the last time there was such a concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere was several million years ago when the Arctic was ice-free and sea levels were up Figure 1.3:Atmospheric greenhouse gases, 1900–2012 0.00 50.00 100.00 150.00 200.00 250.00 300.00 350.00 400.00 450.00 1900 1903 1906 1909 1912 1915 1918 1921 1924 1927 1930 1933 1936 1939 1942 1945 1948 1951 1954 1957 1960 1963 1966 1969 1972 1975 1978 1981 1984 1987 1990 1993 1996 1999 2002 2005 2008 2011 Atmospheric CO2 concentration, parts per million, by volume, 1900-2012 Source: Base data compiled by Earth Policy Institute from Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
- 34. 17 Planetary challenges to 40metres higher! Responding to these latest findings, Professor Rajendra Pachauri, chair of the IPCC, said: At the beginning of industrialisation the concentration of CO2 was just 280ppm.We must hope that the world crossing this milestone will bring about awareness of the scientific reality of climate change and how human society should deal with the challenge. (The Guardian, 11 May 2013). So, who are the main culprits in terms of greenhouse gas emissions? Historically, the US has been the largest contributor to global greenhouse gas emissions.Table 1.1 shows emissions figures for 2012. Percentage of greenhouse gas emissions per country in 2012 In 2012, China (with a population of 1.4 billion) was responsible for 23.5% of all total emissions, just ahead of the US (with a population of 315 million).Ten countries accounted for 67% of all emissions.At the bottom of the list were the Maldives Islands in the Indian Ocean, whose greenhouse gas emissions were negligible. By a twist of irony, the Maldives is one of the first countries to have felt the impact of rising sea levels as a result of climate change. In an attempt to draw attention to the plight of the Maldives, its president actually held a cabinet meeting under the sea in October 2009! Variations in the earth’s temperature, 1900–2012 Figure 1.4 shows us the variations in the temperature of the earth’s atmosphere in degrees Fahrenheit from 1900 to 2012. There are variations from year to year but there is a clear upward trajectory. Indeed, 20 of the hottest 21 years since records began in 1860 have Table 1.1: Percentage greenhouse gas emissions per country, 2012 Country Total greenhouse gas emissions (%) China 23.5 USA 23 EU 14 India 6 Source: IPCC (2013).
- 35. 18 The challenge ofsustainability occurred in the last 25 years.Official figures released by the American NOAA show that 2012 was the warmest year on record for the US. The principal cause of this upward trajectory,argues the IPCC (2013), is the increasing emissions of greenhouse gases shown in Figure 1.3. There is a growing consensus that this trend of temperature increase is set to continue.The only uncertainty is by how much.The IPCC estimates that global temperatures in the 20th century could increase by anywhere between two and four degrees centigrade (3.6 to 7.2 degrees Fahrenheit).The two degrees centigrade (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) figure is significant, with many scientists now of the view that any increase beyond this would take us into uncharted territory, with the world experiencing more and more strange and unusual weather events. So, the evidence is clear. Climate change is happening through vast amounts of greenhouse gases being pumped into the atmosphere as a consequence of human activity.True,there is still uncertainty about the precise future impact that this will have on planet earth,but as Gosling et al argue,‘The evidence shows significant changes ahead for many aspects of human and natural system, many of them unprecedented Source: Base data compiled by Earth Policy Institute (2013) from National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) 55.00 55.50 56.00 56.50 57.00 57.50 58.00 58.50 59.00 1900 1903 1906 1909 1912 1915 1918 1921 1924 1927 1930 1933 1936 1939 1942 1945 1948 1951 1954 1957 1960 1963 1966 1969 1972 1975 1978 1981 1984 1987 1990 1993 1996 1999 2002 2005 2008 2011 Figure 1.4: Average global surface temperatures, 1900–2012
- 36. 19 Planetary challenges in thecourse of human existence’ (Gosling et al, 2011, p 456). It is to this that I now turn. The environmental impact of climate change It has been argued that,‘Like a distant tsunami that is only a few metres high in the deep ocean but rises dramatically as it reaches shallow coastal waters,the great wave of climate change has snuck upon people – and is now beginning to bite’ (Flavin and Engelman, 2009, p 6). This is certainly true.The 2006 Stern Report warned of the severe environmental, social and economic consequences of climate change. It warned of how melting glaciers would lead to the increased risk of flooding in the wet season and significantly reduce dry season water supplies to one sixth of the world’s population.The Indian subcontinent would be one area particularly hit.Increasing temperatures would lead to declining crop yields, especially in Africa. Ecosystems would come under increasing threat (Stern, 2006, p 56). Urgent action is needed, argued Stern. Eight years later, the situation is even more urgent.The physical impact of climate change is becoming increasingly evident. Rising sea levels threaten the livelihoods of many people,with all that that means for poverty and social and political instability. Delicate ecosystems are being eroded, posing a threat to biodiversity and the balance of nature. In December 2012, a major weather event wrought havoc on a populous nation, bringing death and destruction in its wake.While the power of Hurricane Sandy was widely reported in the world’s media as it pounded the eastern seaboard of the US, the destructive force of Typhoon Bopha went largely unreported as it brought death and destruction to the Philippines.Around 1,500 people are estimated to have died. Now, of course, one should be cautious when drawing conclusions about climate change from specific weather events. But Typhoon Bopha is significant. Normally, typhoons do not travel so far south towards the equator, but such extreme weather events are becoming part of a pattern. Indeed, the number of floods and storms in the archipelago of the Philippines has risen significantly since the 1960s (as quoted in the FinancialTimes, 13 December 2012). There are many other examples of the impact of climate change and the world’s continued dependency on fossil fuels. According to data from the National Snow and Ice Data Centre (NSIDC) in Colorado, sea ice in the Arctic has shrunk to its smallest extent ever recorded. Satellite images from 2012 show that a rapid melt has reduced the area of frozen sea to less than 3.3 million square kilometres, less than half
- 37. 20 The challenge ofsustainability that of 40 years ago. Research published in the journal Science in 2012 shows that four trillion tonnes of ice from Greenland and Antarctica has melted in the last 20 years, adding yet further to rising sea levels (quoted in The Guardian,30 November 2012).Research carried out by scientists based on the vessel Arctic Sunrise points to the likelihood of theArctic being ice-free in the summer within 29 years (quoted in The Guardian,15 September 2012).For NickToberg,a sea ice researcher at Cambridge University,such evidence is‘staggering’.Toberg argues that: It is disturbing, scary, that we have physically changed the face of the planet.We have about four million square metres of sea ice. If that goes in the summer months that’s about the same as adding 20 years of CO2 at current rates into the atmosphere.That’s how vital the Arctic sea ice is. (Quoted in The Guardian, 15 September 2012). The delicate ecosystem of the Arctic is under increasing threat as oil corporations see the commercial advantage of oil exploration and drilling in the region. It is estimated that the Arctic holds up to 25% of the world’s remaining hydrocarbons.With perverse irony, the rush for oil is a consequence of climate change as global temperatures continue to rise, causing large areas of Arctic ice to melt, thus easing the logistical difficulties for the oil companies as they seek to exploit the vast reserves. In Africa, climate change now threatens to undermine the whole environmental,social and economic fabric of the continent.There has been comparatively little research into the possible impact of climate change in Africa. But the consensus of the IPCC is that an increase of just two degrees centigrade would bring in its wake more intense droughts, stronger storms, floods, crop losses and rising sea levels.An increase of around four degrees centigrade would have calamitous consequences for much of Africa. In 1906, scientists mapped and named 43 glaciers in the continent of Africa.Today,there remain only five major glaciers, the Rwenzori glaciers in Uganda, but they, too, are under threat. It is likely, writes John Vidal (2011), environment correspondent of The Guardian newspaper, that ‘the equatorial ice known to the ancient Greeks will almost have certainly disappeared in 20 to 30 years’.The gradual erosion and loss of theAfrican glaciers has multiple effects. Lack of run-off from the glaciers will lead to further clean water shortages,impacting upon food production and increasing human conflict. Conflict and social instability are likely to increase as people battle over declining resources.
- 38. 21 Planetary challenges Tackling climatechange is the most important challenge facing the world today. It is a matter of both climate justice and social justice. However, tackling the challenge of climate change and building a more sustainable world cannot be brought about by a few techno fixes. Rather,it presents us with a series of other economic,social and political challenges that must be faced up to.These have huge implications for education and learning and for how we do politics. Delivering on sustainability: challenges and opportunities The challenge of tackling climate change and building a more sustainable world is complex, multilayered and hugely problematic. At times, it can seem so daunting that its resolution can appear nigh on impossible. But it is a challenge that we simply cannot afford to duck. As such, it necessitates a multilayered response on the part of civil society, business and the state. It requires action at the local, national, regional and global levels.To analyse both this challenge and the opportunities to meet this challenge, I will now focus on three specific but interrelated themes,namely:economy and society,energy policy, and the politics of it all. Economy and society Since the end of the Second World War, the dominant economic paradigm has been one of economic growth (measured by gross domestic product [GDP]) as the key to material happiness and well- being.It came to dominate political discourse and public policymaking. It became the normal way of doing economics. The emergence of neoliberal economics in the 1980s and 1990s strengthened this process even further.There developed a strong belief among many politicians, elites and key decision-makers that markets were ‘the primary means for achieving the public good’ (Sandel, 2012, p 6). One might have expected the 2007/08 international financial crisis and credit crunch, a product of reckless banking practices, a consumerism bubble and high levels of personal indebtedness,to have forced a radical rethink of the way we do economics.After all,the crisis did almost bring the global economy to its knees. It was only rescued by a strong dose of good old-fashioned Keynesian social democracy, as governments worldwide pumped huge amounts of money into the banking system.Indeed,commentators such as Michael Sandel (2012, p 6) have argued that ‘The era of market triumphalism has come to
- 39. 22 The challenge ofsustainability an end’ as the financial crisis ‘has cast doubt on the ability of financial markets to allocate risk efficiently’. For Evans et al (2009, p 683), the after-effects of the credit crunch have made it ‘possible to challenge dominant political narratives about the supremacy of the market’.Yet, in spite of all that has happened, neoliberal economics has remained remarkably resilient. Its proponents have also remained remarkably thick-skinned, almost shameless one might say. Faith in the market and the pursuit of economic growth may have been dented, but it is far from undermined. The central question is‘Why?’There is no doubt that contemporary capitalism, with its focus on economic growth and material consumption, has proved itself to be remarkably dynamic, bringing with it many benefits and improving the lives of millions of people. Yet, this is only part of the story. For, as Borghesi andVercelli (2008, p 33) argue,‘unfettered markets, including deregulation, privatisation and the downgrading of social and environmental standards, are the apotheosis of a more sustainable and equitable world’. As we survey the global scene in 2014, for millions and millions of people,the relentless drive for greater prosperity has proved illusory.In the developing world,millions remain in poverty.Data from theWorld Bank,for example,shows that 49% of people in sub-SaharanAfrica live in poverty,defined as earning less than US$1.25 a day.In the so-called developed world, we are witnessing ever-increasing concentrations of wealth, rising levels of unemployment and the associated social and health strains that this brings.Government austerity programmes have wreaked havoc on a number of economies, bringing in their wake political and social instability. Unemployment in Spain, for example, stands at 25%, with youth unemployment at 56%. In Greece, 59% of those under 25 are out of work. Yet, support for the current system has taken on a kind of quasi- religious quality in some quarters, but its environmental, social and economic downsides are clear for all to see. So, what is to be done? A variety of approaches has been either tried or suggested.In theWestern world, recycling has taken off apace over the last two decades (for millions in the developing world,such recycling has been commonplace for generations!).There is a growing awareness of how food is grown and the conditions of those that grow that food (witness the growth of Fair Trade). Corporate social responsibility has become part of the lexicon in the commercial sector. At a public policy level, there have been a number of initiatives. Governments have sought to use directly interventionist measures such as green taxes (eg on oil and petrol) to protect the environment and to
- 40. 23 Planetary challenges mitigate theimpact of climate change. On a broader scale, the NASA climate scientist James Hansen has called for a worldwide tax on all greenhouse gas emissions as a means to safeguard global environmental and social justice (quoted in The Guardian,7April 2012).But the debate about the fairness, effectiveness and political feasibility of such taxes is ongoing (Wilkinson and Pickett, 2010; Casal, 2012). A less interventionist approach to tackling climate change is to be found in the economics of ‘Nudge’,associated with the work ofThaler and Sunstein (2008) and Mills (2013),among others.Such an approach eschews such interventionist measures as direct green taxes. Instead, it calls for public policy to be structured so that people have choices over their own actions but are gently nudged (through incentives) to do what is in their own interests (and in the interests of wider society). Thaler and Sunstein (2008, p 16) cite the example of cap and trade schemes to control the emissions of greenhouse gases as an example of the Nudge approach. One such example is the European Union’s (EU’s) emissions trading scheme (ETS).It is a market-based system in which companies in areas such as manufacturing and energy production,for example,are able to buy tradable carbon permits.The rationale is that putting a price on carbon will prod such companies to invest more in sustainable energy. However, the ETS has been hit by a number of complex problems in the wake of the 2007 credit crunch. By 2012, the price of carbon had slumped from a peak of US$30 per tonne in 2008 to US$7, and the market had become saturated in permits ‘that give companies the right to emit carbon without penalties’(Chaffin,2012).Of course,the ETS may well be able to respond to such episodic setbacks and make a substantive impact on reducing greenhouse gases.Yet, it is rooted in traditional notions of economic growth and consumption,which,as I have argued earlier, are a major part of the problem.As such, the jury remains firmly out on the ETS. Technological change Some would have us believe that technological solutions are the way to solve the problem. Can we, as Rawles (2012, p 233) puts it, ‘technofix climate change’? Roberts (2005, p 260) has written of the ‘myth of the perfect gadget’, whereby it is only a matter of time before the ‘right’ technology comes along to deal with the challenges that climate change presents. It is a point of view held by a number of energy executives, policymakers and even some environmentalists!
- 41. 24 The challenge ofsustainability Leach et al (2010, p 1) write of the ‘ever more urgent search for big, technically driven, managerial solutions’. One approach that has come on to the scientific agenda is that of geo-engineering,which is an attempt to engineer the climate (Spectre, 2012).But,as Roy Butterfield,emeritus professor of civil engineering, argues, the global climate is universally acknowledged to be a non- linear, dynamic and chaotic system. In this context,‘Geo engineering is,unfortunately,a totally impractical concept’,with the added danger ‘that it could be used politically as an excuse for delaying further the drastic measures needed’ to tackle climate change and build a more sustainable world (Butterfield, 2012). For some,the solution to the problems of environmental degradation is to be found in the concept of ecological modernisation. Ecological modernisation is an attempt to square the circle of economic growth and sustainable development by increasing‘the environmental efficiency of the economy through the use of new and clean technologies’(Connelly and Smith, 2003, p 67). Such a process is known as ‘decoupling’, allowing more economic activity with less environmental damage.For example, there is some evidence, as Jackson (2011, p 69) points out, that there has been an increased efficiency in the use of resources for each unit of economic output,leading to‘declining [carbon] emission densities’. Jackson (2011, p 68) describes such a process as ‘relative decoupling’.The problem is that as economic output has increased globally, so has the overall scale of carbon dioxide emissions. Carbon dioxide emissions are 40% higher today than they were in 1990.There is simply no evidence of‘absolute decoupling’.For Jackson (2011,p 76), decoupling as an approach to deal with the ‘dilemma of growth’ is ‘fundamentally flawed’.One example of the ecological modernisation and decoupling approaches is that of the Green Economy. The Green Economy The so-called ‘Green Economy’ is regarded in some circles as the holy grail in terms of moving towards a more sustainable world and tackling climate change.For others,it is akin to the‘myth of the perfect gadget’,as described earlier.It was central to discussions and debates at the 2012 UN Conference on Sustainable Development (commonly known as Rio+20). The Green Economy is predicated on the assumption that green or sustainable growth can be achieved by utilising the latest science and technology. It is part of the mainstream thinking within the UN and international development circles. But the concept of the Green
- 42. 25 Planetary challenges Economy ‘andstrategies to promote a green economy are highly contested’(UNRISD,2012).Jones (2012,p 187) points to the important link between creating green jobs and protecting the environment.But, for Jackson (2012), nobody has yet come up with an honest and clear definition of what is actually meant by sustainable growth.Cable (2012, p 12) goes further, arguing that ‘Sustainable growth is nonsensical: growth is not sustainable because resources are not infinite’.Yet,the idea of sustainable growth has gained significant leverage in policy circles. A 2011 United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) policy paper, for example, stated that ‘Science holds many of the answers to the complex questions we face’ (UNESCO, 2011b, p 5). It talks of the need for ‘resolute science and technology based solutions’ to combat the many social and environmental challenges (UNESCO, 2011b, p 29). No one should deny the important role that science and technology can play in shaping a more sustainable world,but the Green Economy approach is in danger of perpetuating the myth that science and technology are all that is needed.Indeed,as Bowen (2012,p 7) has argued,‘it is not clear whether this new emphasis on green growth represents a paradigm shift or just spin to cover up inconsistencies between economic and environmental objectives of government’. The challenges that the world faces today are multifaceted and require a variety of social, environmental and economic policy responses, of which science and technology are but a part.Indeed,there is recognition in international circles that ‘Green economies on their own are not enough’; there is also a need to build ‘green societies’, which ‘must be fair, equitable and inclusive societies’ (UNESCO, 2011b, p 8).The concept of green societies offers us a potentially important way forward. But we must be careful to avoid prioritising the green economy over the green society as the driver for social change. As mentioned earlier in this chapter,the world’s delicate ecosystems are under considerable threat as a result of challenges such as climate change and the over-exploitation of the planet’s natural resources. In 2005, the Millennium Eco System Assessment, an international work programme run by 1,300 researchers from 95 countries, published a report based on its research. It is the most comprehensive review of the state of the planet ever conducted. Its findings highlight the real and apparent crisis with regard to the world’s ecosystems.The report’s broad conclusion is that human activity has changed most ecosystems to such an extent as to threaten the planet’s ability to support future generations (Millennium Eco System Assessment, 2005).
- 43. 26 The challenge ofsustainability One approach put forward to tackle this crisis is that of ecosystem services.This approach seeks to achieve the sustainable use of ecosystem products and services through the adoption of a number of key principles.These include:respecting the biological limits of ecosystem structures; managing ecosystems for long-term benefit as opposed to short-term gain; and involving all relevant stakeholders in decision- making so as to foster equity and inspire active participation in the stewardship of ecosystems (World Resources Institute, 2005). The ecosystem services approach has been the subject of much academic debate (Godden, 2010; Gonez-Baggethun and Perez, 2011; Connif, 2012).A detailed critique of the ecosystem services approach is beyond the scope of this book; however, some general observations can be made.While the key principles highlighted earlier can be seen to have merit, the reference to services and products in respect of ecosystems could be viewed as having much in common with neoliberal and market-based assumptions of economic growth, as opposed to a distinctive policy agenda based around the principles of sustainability. This is compounded by the fact that the ecosystem services approach seeks to put an economic value on ecosystems,albeit a value that is based on all ecosystems’goods and services,not simply the commodity value of extracted goods.It is an approach that seeks to monetise ecosystems, but nature, ecology and the biosphere have an intrinsic value beyond economics.We cannot lose sight of this. While the various policy approaches considered in the preceding section may make some contribution to combating climate change and promoting sustainability, they simply do not go far enough.They are still based on the assumption of consuming increasing amounts of stuff (even if some of it is green stuff).The neoliberal economic growth model and its focus on so-called consumer choice,with the acquisition of more and more consumer goods, is eating up the planet’s resources at an alarming rate.We need to take action now if we are to avoid what has been described as the‘tragedy of the commons’(Hardin,1998).The commons are those ‘areas and resources that are not under sovereign jurisdiction’, but that are open to exploitation for personal profit, with significant environmental costs that impact upon us all (Vogler, 2008, p 358).A good example of the tragedy of the commons is the over-exploitation of the planet’s oceans through commercial fishing. Building a new normal? In the relentless pursuit of conventional economic growth, we are pumping huge amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. It
- 44. 27 Planetary challenges is nowgenerally accepted by the scientific community and politicians alike that we need to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by the year 2050, using 1990 as a baseline, if we are to avoid the more catastrophic impacts of climate change.This is a daunting challenge and will require a radical reappraisal of how we do economics and,indeed, politics. It also has huge implications for what and how we learn and, therefore, for education policy and practice. ‘We need’, as Rawles (2012, p 165) has observed,‘a new normal’, a new way of looking at our role in the world and our relationship to the planet. In essence, we have become divorced from nature, seeking to constantly shape it to meet our material desires.Yet,we are objectively part of it and we need to recognise this fact (Blewitt, 2008, p ix).We need to examine some of our key assumptions about conventional economics. Indeed, a debate is opening up about how this might be done, with a growing recognition that we live in a finite world and we need to operate within planetary boundaries.It is a debate that has been going on for 40 years or more. Until the 1960s, environmental issues were, in the main,focused on the protection of wildlife and the countryside. The 1962 book Silent spring by Rachel Carson was one of the first accounts to draw attention to the increasingly damaging impact of human actions on the planet, which had intensified significantly with economic growth,as measured by GDP,in the post-SecondWorldWar period (Carson, 2003). The nascent ‘green politics’ of the 1960s and 1970s sought to challenge traditional notions of material happiness,focusing on quality of life issues,what has been described as‘post-materialism’(Abramson and Inglehart,1995).The 1987 Brundtland Report and the 1992 Rio Summit drew an explicit link between environmental protection,social development and economic growth through the concept of sustainable development, which is now part of the mainstream policy agenda (although debates over its substantive meaning and impact rage on!). Over recent years, there has developed a growing body of literature and thinking on broader notions of happiness and well-being that go beyond traditional notions of material satisfaction. The negative impact on personal health of consumerism has been described by various psychologists as affluenza,which is like a‘painful, contagious,socially transmitted condition of overload,debt,anxiety and waste resulting from the dogged pursuit of more’ (Graaf et al, 2001, p 122).Developing the concept of affluenza, Oliver James (2007,p 142) has linked rising consumption and the influence of advertising with high levels of anxiety and depression.Wilkinson and Pickett (2010,
- 45. 28 The challenge ofsustainability p 217) note how available evidence shows ‘that further economic growth in the developed world no longer improves health, happiness or measures of well being’. Indeed, as Jackson (2011, p 85) argues, there is ‘yet no credible, socially just, ecologically sustainable scenario of continually growing incomes for a world of 9 billion people’. A 2010 report coordinated by the world-renowned economist Joseph Stiglitz argued that there was a real need to‘Identify the limits of GDP as an indicator of economic performance and social progress’ and to consider ‘what information might be required for the production of relevant indicators of social progress’(Stiglitz et al,2009,p 2).Helliwell, Layard and Sachs (2013, p 5) have also written of the importance of the role of happiness in shaping public policy. Developing this theme,Reich (2011,p 75) has argued that we need to view economic growth not as ‘an end in itself’, but as a means to improve the quality of our lives.This, of course, will include personal material well-being,but it is clear that we need to go beyond the narrow neoliberal view of economics. Reich (2011, p 76) talks of the need to make room for what he calls‘the consumption of public improvements that benefit all’. He gives as examples an atmosphere less polluted by carbon, better schools and better health care.There is real validity in what Reich has to say. Linked to this is the overwhelming case for greater equality. Greater equality is not just a matter of social justice, but makes economic sense. Research shows that concentrations of wealth not only lead to greater poverty and social exclusion, but also have a negative impact on the functioning of the economy (Reich, 2011).Furthermore,recent worldwide statistics suggest that more equal societies are more sustainable and manage to provide public goods such as health and education at a reduced environmental cost (Wilkinson and Pickett, 2010). One such approach is that of New Economics (Simms and Boyle, 2009). For the UK-based New Economics Foundation,‘The UK and many of the world’s economies are increasingly unsustainable,unfair and unstable’;what is needed,it argues,is a‘GreatTransition – to transform the economy so that it works for people and planet’(New Economics Foundation, 2014). In a similar vein, the US-based New Economy Coalition talks of ‘an economy that is restorative to people, place and planet’, and that operates according to the principles of ‘democracy, justice and appropriate scale’ (New Economy Coalition, 2014). In essence,New Economics challenges neoliberal assumptions about the value of traditional measures of economic growth,such as GDP.It aims to place the well-being of people and the planet at the heart of the economic policy agenda.
- 46. 29 Planetary challenges At abroader policy level, we have seen the development of new systemic approaches in an attempt to meet the twin challenges of climate change and sustainability.There are many good examples of the kind of radical thinking and policy ideas that we need if we are to shape a more sustainable world. One such example is the idea of contraction and convergence.Developed byAubrey Meyer,a musician and environmental activist, it looks at the issues of climate change and sustainability from the perspective of global eco-justice (Meyer, 2001). It argues for the notion of the equal right of all citizens to use the earth’s atmosphere, with an equal per capita allocation.This would mean that more developed countries would contract their use of carbon while poorer countries continue to develop. Convergence would happen when equal levels of development are achieved within sustainable carbon emissions.This is an important policy goal, but it faces any number of barriers and constraints, not the least of which is political will. One important achievement on the global political agenda,it could be argued, was the establishment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) under the auspices of the UN.There are eight such goals, including commitments to: reduce global poverty; achieve universal primary education; tackle global health problems (including child mortality);promote the empowerment of women;and deliver on environmental sustainability (UNDP, 2013).All 189 member states of the UN have signed up to these goals.The year 2015 has been set as the year for achieving the MDGs.There has been undoubted progress in achieving some of these goals,but the picture is complex.The MDG to achieve universal primary education is on track, as is the MDG to promote greater gender equality and support women’s empowerment. There has also been real success in attempts to tackle HIV/Aids and malaria. However, the target to halve extreme poverty by 50% will not be met, nor will attempts to eradicate hunger (UNDP, 2013). Climate change has had an impact here. For, as the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP, 2013) points out, climate-related shocks such as extreme weather have led to increased food insecurity and widespread hunger. A UN High Level Panel,appointed in July 2012,is currently working on a set of proposals for development goals for the period beyond 2015. These goals need to have sustainability at their core.What is needed is a set of explicit Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).The developed world needs to put its money where its mouth is and to give financial support to poorer countries in their attempts to tackle climate change. Any future set of SDGs must also tackle the issue of armed conflicts
- 47. 30 The challenge ofsustainability and the global arms trade that fuels such conflicts.This has to be a central element in efforts to create a more socially just and sustainable world.The 2011 Global Monitoring Report notes that in the decade to 2008, 35 countries experienced armed conflict, of which 30 were either low-income or lower-middle-income countries (UNESCO, 2011a,p 6).The social consequences of this are immense.For example, in conflict-affected poor countries, 28 million children of primary school age are not in school.As the report cogently argues:‘The hidden crisis in education in conflict affected states is a global challenge that demands an international response’ (UNESCO, 2011a, p 6). Energy policy Central to any transformative change in the way we do economics is energy; not just the type of energy we use, but how efficient we are in its usage.As Abramsky (2010, p 78) has noted:‘the world stands at what is likely to be its last window of opportunity to shift toward a sustainable energy system and avoid the full impact of the crises being fuelled by conventional energy industries’.We simply have to move away from our addiction to fuels such as coal, oil and gas.We have to stop being fossil fuel junkies.We need to make a step change in our use of sustainable and renewable energy sources if we are to hit the globally agreed target of an 80% reduction in greenhouse gases by 2050.We need to recalibrate our thinking. Renewable energy sources such as solar,tidal and wind power have to become central elements in a new sustainable energy mix.We have no choice but to embrace these low carbon technologies if we are to avoid the further degradation of planet earth. Politicians seem to get this, at least in their public utterances. But, and it is a big but, they are still prone to short-term expediency and quick policy fixes, in part dictated by the exigencies of electoral politics. I will return to this shortly. Renewable energy For those seeking to combat climate change and to shape a more environmentally sustainable world, a key part of the answer lies in the development of renewable energy.The whole area of renewable energy is complex and contested and definitions vary,but in broad terms,one can define it as energy that is produced from resources that do not deplete when their energy is harnessed,such as sunlight,wind and wave power.This is in contrast to fossil fuel resources such as oil, which are
- 48. 31 Planetary challenges finite. Suchenergy sources have an important role to play in tackling climate change as they have a low carbon impact. It is important to note, however, that despite the clear benefits of renewable energy sources with regard to climate change, they do also have some environmental impact. For example, tidal barrages can produce clean energy but may also have a negative impact on delicate local ecosystems.For some campaigners,wind farms are a visual blight on the landscape.The increasing use of biofuels,using food crops such as corn to produce ethanol as a non-fossil fuel substitute to power motor vehicles,has been widely criticised in development circles.The last three years has seen a series of food riots in developing countries as a result of food shortages resulting from the production of ethanol. This led the UN special rapporteur on the right to food,Jean Ziegler, to argue that biofuels ‘were a crime against humanity’ (as quoted in The Guardian, 26 November 2013). The environmental non-governmental organisation, Worldwatch Institute (2013),reports that renewable energy technologies are quickly cementing themselves as a key pillar of energy sector development. The year 2011,for example,saw total investment in renewable energy and fuel increase by 17% on 2010, itself a previous record year for investment,with some US$257 billion being invested in the renewable sector. At present, Germany produces some 25% of its energy from renewable sources.The US is currently some way short of Germany, with 14% of its electricity coming from renewable sources, though this is still a significant figure. China is spending US$294 billion in the five years from 2010 to 2015 on investment in renewables. In the summer of 2013, the Chinese company Trina Sola won a contract to supply just over 1 million photovoltaic (solar) panels for a 250 megawatt power facility to be built in the Nevada desert in the US. It is one of the world’s largest projects of its type. For the IPPC,renewable energy offers the opportunity to contribute to a number of sustainability goals. These include: climate change mitigation; improved health and environmental outcomes; and social and economic development. These are valid arguments. Indeed, as Barbier (2010, p 43) argues, moving to a low carbon economy is ‘imperative for improving the human development prospects of the world’s poor’. However,renewable energy should not be seen as a magic bullet,for, as noted earlier,all energy sources have some environmental impact.It would be wrong to suggest that renewable energy offers a perfect public policy solution to the challenges of sustainability and climate change. However,renewable energy,used in a judicious and efficient way and in
- 49. 32 The challenge ofsustainability the context of a clear recognition of the ecological limits of the planet, is the best available policy option we have. Simply using renewable energy to go on as we have been doing, pursuing traditional notions of economic growth and consumerism, is not the approach we need. Renewable energy should be a central element of a new paradigm. It should not be used to breathe life into an old and discredited one.But renewable energy is central to renewing the way we do economics! Fracking and all that gas Fracking, or, as it is sometimes called, hydraulic fracturing, is a technology that involves pumping water at high pressure into shale beds to release trapped natural gas, and increasingly in the US, oil as well. It is a highly controversial technology. For its supporters, it is a crucial element in filling the energy gap.To its opponents, it is an environmental disaster. Fracking is allowing access to oil reserves that were previously too expensive or difficult to exploit. The analysts, IHS Global Insight, estimate that by 2015 the US will be producing more oil from techniques such as fracking than from conventional means. In 2008, the country produced 5 million barrels of oil a day.By 2013,this figure had risen to over 7 million barrels a day.The British Geological Survey estimates that Britain is sitting on shale deposits that could satisfy the UK’s gas needs for the next 40 years. A wide range of criticisms have been levelled at the use of fracking. These include pollution of the water supply,earth tremors brought on by the process and the physical degradation of the environment.The natural gas produced from shale produces half the carbon dioxide per unit of energy as coal.This would seem to present some advantages in terms of combating climate change. However, research conducted by the NOAA in conjunction with the University of Colorado estimates that natural gas producers in an area known as the Denver Julesburg basin in Colorado are losing 4% of gas (in the form of methane) to the atmosphere.This is worrying as methane is some 25 times more efficient than carbon dioxide at trapping heat in the atmosphere (Tollefson, 2012). A 2012 study by Tom Wigley from the National Centre for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) concluded that unless methane leakage rates can be kept below 2%, substituting gas for coal is not an effective means of combating climate change (NCAR,2011).
- 50. 33 Planetary challenges Carbon captureand storage Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is a technology that attempts to capture carbon dioxide from the industrial production process (eg factories and energy power plants) and store it underground in saline aquifers or old oil wells,thus preventing its release into the atmosphere. However,as Lynas (2008,p 273) observes,it is an unproven technology with the danger of carbon dioxide leaking from faulty underground reservoirs.For Robert Engelman (2012),president of theWorldwatch Institute,‘CCS is worth exploring as one of a large array of potential strategies for slowing the build up of CO2 in the atmosphere’. But there is a need for high levels of investment if such potential is to be realised. For Engelman (2012), there is little evidence that that is going to happen. Chivers is even more sanguine about the prospects for CCS. For him, even the most optimistic industry experts expect CCS to be operational only by 2030, far too late to avoid ‘run away climate change’ (Chivers, 2010, p 111). The chimera of nuclear power Reactions to the issue of nuclear power are mixed and varied. In France,it has long been a key component of its energy mix,supplying some 75% of its electricity supply.Although it has attracted opposition in some quarters, it has been rather muted. In the US, nuclear power makes up 19% of electricity supply. At times, environmental groups have raised concerns about the safety of nuclear power, most notably, after the major incident at the Three Mile Island nuclear reactor in Pennsylvania, where on 20 March 1979, there was a partial nuclear meltdown. However, such concerns have limited resonance in the broader population. In Germany, by contrast, there has been significant concern about the safety of nuclear power,voiced by the German Greens in particular. As a consequence,the German ChancellorAngela Merkel announced the phasing out of the country’s nuclear programme by 2022. In Britain, there have been long-standing concerns about the safety and environmental impact of nuclear power since the first nuclear power station was built in the 1950s. Nuclear power has never produced more that 20% of Britain’s electricity needs and that figure has been reducing as old plants have closed. By the mid-1990s, the future of nuclear power looked very uncertain. Yet, two decades later, the picture seems to have changed. In 2013, the Conservative–Liberal Democrat Coalition government announced
- 51. 34 The challenge ofsustainability a new programme of nuclear reactors, stating that ‘nuclear power will continue to be a key part of our low carbon energy mix’ (HM Government,2013).The reasons for this policy shift are complex,but, among other factors, the government argues that nuclear power is an important component in the battle against climate change. Nuclear power is a carbon-free technology. As such, it does not produce greenhouse gases. It is an argument that is being heard more widely in policy circles internationally. It is also an argument that has also been taken up by a number of high- profile environmental campaigners. James Lovelock, environmental guru and author of the Gaia Hypothesis,argues that climate change is such a major challenge to the planet that we need to embrace nuclear power. He accuses those in the environment movement who oppose nuclear power of being ‘wrong-headed’. For Lovelock, now is not the time to experiment with ‘visionary energy solutions’ (Lovelock, 2004).Another leading environmentalism and author of ‘Six degrees; our future on a hotter planet’, Mark Lynas, advocates the wider use of nuclear power ‘in order to avoid more carbon emissions’ (Lynas, 2012). In the US, Stewart Brand, a key figure in shaping the modern environmental movement and editor of the Whole Earth Catalogue,has argued that ‘nuclear is green’ (Brand, 2012). Despite this,many others in the environmental lobby remain deeply sceptical of the role of nuclear energy as a sustainable energy source, citing, for example, the problems of the waste produced by nuclear and how to store it.It has been estimated that the cost of dealing with the waste produced by the UK nuclear industry will be in the region of £70 billion. Mark Lynas has acknowledged the downsides of nuclear power. In addition to what he described as the‘unsolved question of what to do with highly radioactive wastes’ (Lynas, 2008, p 273), he also refers to the danger of major accidents at nuclear power plants. Recent events in Japan underscore this concern.In March 2011,the after-effects of a tsunami caused major damage to the Fukushima nuclear power plant, resulting in a major radiation leak. In September 2013, a surge was reported in the radiation levels leaking out of the plant, with levels twice that considered safe by the Japanese authorities. In addition, although nuclear power as a non-fossil fuel does not appear to directly produce greenhouse gases, to build a nuclear power plant is a huge capital project,involving a large amount of embedded energy in terms of materials, transport and the use of fuel, which, by their very nature, emit greenhouse gases.
- 52. 35 Planetary challenges The politicsof it all There is no doubt that climate change presents us with a considerable challenge.But it is not an insurmountable challenge.There are grounds for optimism.We should not underestimate the human capacity for making the necessary changes towards a more sustainable way of life. We have the skills and the knowledge to deal with climate change. There is, for example, a potentially abundant supply of renewable energy sources such as solar,wind and tidal,which could shift us away from our dependence upon fossil fuels.The missing ingredient in all of this is political will. To be fair,politicians and decision-makers at the global,national and local levels do seem to recognise that there is a problem.Indeed,there has been no lack of summits,conferences and gatherings,from the Rio Earth Summit of 1992 to the 1997 Kyoto Protocol on climate change, and right through to the 2012 UN Climate Change Conference in Doha.There have been some important achievements along the way. The Kyoto Protocol,for example,was an important global agreement that set out agreed targets for reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.It was far from perfect – indeed,Lemos and Agrawal (2009,p 91) talk of its‘lacklustre accomplishments’– but it was an important achievement nonetheless. However, the overall record of political action to tackle climate change is mixed to say the least. The Doha UN Climate Change Conference in 2012 was,in the eyes of most observers,a major disappointment, with world leaders in effect putting off key decisions to another day.The 2013 gathering in Warsaw fared little better. As Farley and Smith (2014,p 79) observe:‘there is an evident gap between talk and action’.There are various reasons for this. First,there is the nature of the problem itself.Tackling climate change is of a different order to previous environmental challenges.As Sedlacko and Martinuzzi (2012, p 3) observe, climate change is an example of what has been termed a ‘wicked problem’. It is, as Jordan et al (2011, p 122) argue, ‘Complex, unprecedented and its worst impacts will be felt by people we won’t meet, decades into the future’.Tackling climate change presents us with a broad and multilayered challenge, encompassing a wide variety of issues.These range from combating poverty in the developing world to energy security in the developed world. Conventional models of political decision-making struggle to cope with such challenges.This can, in part, explain the slow process of political agreement at the international level. Second,by its very nature,tackling climate change necessitates long- term strategies and commitments.Yet, politicians invariably think in
- 53. 36 The challenge ofsustainability the short to medium term,governed by the exigencies of the electoral cycle. In short, they want to get elected.And there can be no getting away from the fact that effective action on climate change will require real sacrifices by voters, in particular, in the developed world. How do we move to a new kind of politics in which politicians are honest with their electorates about the need to use less energy, to fly less frequently and to make less use of their cars?A major shift is needed in the psychology of politicians and voters alike.Are politicians capable of making the necessary ‘brave decisions’, spelling out the sacrifices that need to be made? How will voters respond at the ballot box? This brings us, third, to the issue of public policy and democracy. Meadowcroft (2012,p 283) writes of the‘difficulties which democratic political systems experience in managing environmental problems’. Arias-Maldonado (2012, p 97) goes even further, asking whether ‘Sustainability is compatible with democracy’.The answer to this must surely be ‘yes’. By its very nature, building a more sustainable world necessitates a broad base of public support and public action.A top- down political approach will not work. Political will may seem to be in short supply at the moment, but, as Flavin and Engelman (2009, p 8) have cogently argued, it is ‘a renewable resource’. It is true that in seeking to combat climate change, politicians face a real dilemma.Telling voters (especially in the developed world) that tacking climate change will require fundamental changes to traditional notions of economic growth and individual prosperity hardly seems like a recipe for success at the ballot box.Yet, the fact remains that for millions of the world’s poor and unemployed, the current system is simply not delivering what it is supposed to deliver.We need to move to what Jackson has described as‘prosperity without growth’(Jackson, 2011).Politicians need to shift the terms of the debate,so that meeting the challenge of climate change is not seen in negative terms,but instead viewed as a real opportunity to build a more sustainable and fulfilling way of life. However, this will require a qualitative psychological adjustment on the part of both politicians and voters alike, especially those in the developed world, who for more than five decades since the end of the Second World War have operated within a paradigm whose modus operandi was the pursuit of ever-increasing economic growth,supporting a seemingly unstoppable tidal wave of consumerism. Therefore, there is also a really important role here for education for sustainable development.
- 54. 37 Planetary challenges Conclusion Tackling climatechange and creating a more sustainable way of living is the greatest challenge facing us in the 21st century. The speed and degree of environmental change that we are witnessing is unprecedented (Lord,2011,p 5).It is all too easy to feel overwhelmed by this challenge and to fall into a counsel of despair.As Berners-Lee and Clark (2013, p 3) observe,‘some of the facts about climate change are uncomfortable’. Yet, not taking action is simply not an option. Planet earth is the only home we have. Its resources are limited.We need to have a different kind of politics and a different kind of economics if we are to work within the carrying capacity of the earth.Politicians need to be honest with voters and citizens, but voters and citizens need to be honest with themselves.Awareness of the issues is not enough – this needs to translate into action. We need a radical reconfiguration of the way we do politics and economics at local,national and global levels if we are to move towards a more sustainable way of living and protect the planet on which we all depend.This is not to suggest that we need to start again and change everything. Not only would this be nigh on impossible, but it would ignore the real latent potential that already exists to build a more sustainable world.As a recent report by the WWF (2012, p 6) notes, ‘we have more than 50 years of experience and scientific know how. We have the passion and the determination to build a future where people and nature thrive’. At the local,national,regional and global levels,there are a myriad of actions – some seemingly small,some large – which,taken together,are having a significant impact upon tackling climate change and building a more sustainable world. So, we do not want to throw the baby out with the bath water, but we need to recognise the reality of planetary boundaries and adopt new ways of thinking.It is a challenge that cannot be avoided, but it is also a challenge that can be met. References Abramsky,K.(2010) Sparking a worldwide energy revolution:social struggles in the transition to a post-petrol world, Oakland, CA:AK Press. Abramson, P. and Ingelhart, R. (1995) Value change in global perspective, Michigan, MI: University of Michigan Press. Arias-Maldonado, M. (2012) Real green: sustainability after the end of nature, Surrey:Ashgate. Barbier, E. (2010) Rethinking the economic recovery: a global green deal, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
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