23 September 2015, The Conversation, Sustained economic growth: United Nations mistake the poison for the cure. On September 25 world leaders will meet in New York to formalise the new Sustainable Development Goals. These 17 goals will guide efforts to reduce poverty and increase well-being, without destroying the Earth. The Conversation is looking at how we got here, and how far we have to go. On the surface, the Sustainable Development Goals, soon to be confirmed by the United Nations, seem noble and progressive. They seek to free the human race from the tyranny of poverty and hunger while creating sustainable and resilient societies. But look beneath the surface of this pleasant rhetoric and one comes face to face with a far more ominous vision of development: a vision that is fundamentally compromised by corporate interests and ultimately doomed to failure, if not catastrophe. The defining flaw in the United Nations’ agenda is the naïve assumption that “sustained economic growth” is the most direct path to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. This faith in the god of growth is fundamentally misplaced. It has been shown, for example, that for every $100 in global growth merely $0.60 is directed toward resolving global poverty. Not only is this an incredibly inefficient pathway to poverty alleviation, it is environmentally unsupportable. By championing economic growth, the Sustainable Development Goals are a barely disguised defence of the market fundamentalism that underpins business-as-usual. But in an age of planetary limits, sustained economic growth is not the solution to our social and environmental ills, but their cause. Read More here
Category Archives: Global Action Inaction
21 September 2015, The Conversation, Creative self-destruction: the climate crisis and the myth of ‘green’ capitalism. The upcoming Paris climate talks in December this year have been characterised as humanity’s last chance to respond to climate change. Many hope that this time some form of international agreement will be reached, committing the world to significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. And yet there are clear signs that the much-touted “solutions” of emissions reduction targets and market mechanisms are insufficient for what is required. In our new book, Climate Change, Capitalism and Corporations: Processes of Creative Self-Destruction, we look at reasons why this has come about. We argue that businesses are locked in a cycle of exploiting the world’s resources in ever more creative ways. Innovating environmental destruction. The disconnect between business and climate action was symbolised by the announcement earlier this year that a significant portion of funding for the Paris meeting comes from major fossil fuel companies and carbon emitters; a situation French climate officials admitted was financially unavoidable. While perhaps unsurprising, this announcement hints at a deeper problem we now face — the global economic system of corporate capitalism appears incapable of achieving the levels of decarbonisation necessary to avoid dangerous climate change. Humanity is locked into a process of “creative self-destruction”. Our economies are now reliant upon ever-more ingenious ways of exploiting the Earth’s fossil fuel reserves and consuming the very life-support systems we rely on for our survival. This is evident in the rush by some of the world’s largest companies to embrace deep-water and Arctic oil drilling, tar-sands processing, new mega-coalmines, and the “fracking” of shale and coal-seam gas. These examples highlight both the inventive genius of corporate capitalism, and the blindness of industry and government to the ecological catastrophe they are fashioning. Read More here
9 September 2015, The Guardian, Pacific leaders voice frustration over Australia’s position on climate change. Kiribati president says any attempt to water down a commitment to curb global warming would be a ‘betrayal’ and that there will be no compromise on target. Tony Abbott is set to receive a frosty reception from some Pacific island leaders in Papua New Guinea amid frustration at Australia’s perceived failure to properly address climate change. The president of Kiribati, Anote Tong, said that Australia may be asked to leave the Pacific Islands Forum, or face a walkout by small island states, if it attempted to water down a commitment to curb global warming. Pacific nations have called for global warming to be limited to 1.5C above a pre-industrial baseline, claiming that the internationally-agreed limit of 2C would devastate their low-lying islands through sea-level rises and extreme weather. Tong said that it would be a “betrayal” if Australia forced any compromise on the 1.5C target at the forum, which is being held in Port Moresby this week. “We expect them as our big brothers, not bad brothers, our big brothers to support us on this one,” he said. “We cannot negotiate this, no matter how much aid. We cannot be bought on this one because it’s about the future. Read more here
7 September 2015, The Carbon Brief, Bonn climate talks ask for draft Paris text. A draft international climate agreement package will be published within weeks, setting the scene for crunch UN talks in Paris in December. During negotiations in Bonn last week, countries made progress on some key sticking points and started to lay out the skeleton of the planned agreement. Yet with just five more days of formal negotiations before Paris, disagreement over many details remains profound. The co-chairs of the process will now attempt to cement progress and bridge those divides. They have been given a mandate to prepare a draft agreement by the first week of October. Parties will then start line-by-line negotiations on the draft text when they return to Bonn on 19 October. Carbon Brief summarises events in Bonn last week and rounds up reactions to the latest talks. Read More here