Anthropogenic climate change
climate policy, as well as greater regulation of private companies, themselves responsible for 71% of global greenhouse gas emissions since 1988 (Oldfield). This lack of sufficient action derives not from a lack of ability, but from a lack of willingness. To evidence this, we can look to the UK government ’ s response to crises it has previously faced and compare it to its response to climate change as an example. During the financial crisis of 2007- 09 ‘£137 billion of public money in loans and capital’ was spent on stabilizing the banking sector (according to the house of commons library), a much more significant sum when compared to the £1.18 billion spent by the UK government between 2013-19 on climate related aid. It is the power of governments to act to resolve anthropogenic warming and their failure to do so which highlights the limitations of changes to individual lifestyle choices as a social solution. However, it also highlights the necessity of grassroots movements as a social solution in bringing about this necessary top-down change. Grassroots activist movements are an example of a necessary social solution to anthropogenic warming, as they have the potential to influence the implementation of policy, thus bringing about necessary top-down change. Naomi Klein (2014) states: ‘If enough of us . . . decide that climate change is a crisis worthy of Marshall Plan levels of response, then . . . the political class will have to respond . . . by making resourc es available.’ The effects of grassroots movements can already be seen in the effects of the youth climate action movement as ‘youth collective action has succeeded in problematizing global climate inaction . . . and in framing climate change from a justice perspective’ (Han 2020). These grassroots movements have the potential to greatly influence policymaking decisions, encouraging governments to pursue the economic solution previously highlighted. Thus, activism as a social solution is vital in bringing about the necessary previously discussed economic solutions to global warming. To further enforce this argument, we can look to the historical success of previous grassroots activist movemen ts such as the women’s suffrage movement, an activist movement which caused ‘shifts in political circumstance’ which ‘altered the political calculus on which decision makers -based action’ (McCammon et al. 2004). As highlighted by Han (2020), climate activist movements such as the youth movement are already triggered these shifts in political circumstance. These movements demonstrate a further socially viable solution to anthropogenic warming, as it allows wider populations to become involved in the resolution of it. Owing to insufficient climate action from governments, it can be concluded that these grassroots activist movements are a vital, socially viable component in bringing about the economically viable solutions to anthropogenic climate change. In conclusion, the polices outlined by the Stern Review, alongside collective grassroots activism, serve as some of the most viable economic and social solutions to climate change. The solutions suggested by the Stern Review, while viable, are evidently not entirely favoured by current political classes, as highlighted by their lack of sufficient action. Thus, it is the implementation of the social solution of grassroots activism in order to display popular demands for change that can aid in economic solutions being implemented, thus demonstrating the necessity of the simultaneous implementation of both economic and social solutions in order to properly mitigate the effects of anthropogenic warming.
References
Clark, G https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/story/how-sustainable-living-can-help-counter- climate-crisis ‘ How Sustainable Living can Help Counter the Climate Crisis’ Consulted 02/08/2023
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