Representative democracy and climate change
way of living is popularized in western states, it still remains controversial in countries of eastern Europe and Asia, not to mention Africa, where it remains a thoughtless whim.
So how does representative democracy come into play? There is a solution to the aforementioned caveats; responsible policy-making. By employing solutions such as the energetic dividend or fiscal policy aimed at encouraging the expansion of renewable energy sources, a government can combat both the 68% of ‘ corporate pollution ’ and encourage citizens to adopt a lifestyle reducing waste. All these changes, however, need to be implemented through each country’s legislative branch, which in a vast majority of developed countries manifests itself in representatives elected by citizens in certain constituencies. However, a view that politicians would seemingly out of nowhere decide to tread down the environmentally-friendly route is inconsiderate at best. No matter how one wants to defend the campaign against global warming, one can’t in good conscience discard the notion that it would cause economic damage to whichever country decides to undergo such a transformation. It would require the employment of an abundant amount of measures as well as hurt some countries more than others – the USA (the GDP of which consists in 5.8% of the energy sector 3 ) would stand to lose more than, say, the Central African Republic. There also comes the economic and social problem widely known as the tragedy of the commons. It is a phenomenon which bases itself on the notion that in certain aspects of economic and political life the net benefit of the individual comes with a net loss to society that isn’t as impactful towards said individual. As Garrett Hardin put it: ‘ Each man is locked into a system that compels him to increase his herd without limit--in a world that is limited. ’ 4 The tragedy of the commons is applicable to the problemof climate change; in fact, it is one of its flagship examples. Though it may benefit corporations to limit their pollution output in a world where no one is even able to pollute, it is entirely not in their interest to do it in the real market economy, where revenue is the net benefit and pollution is the drawback that spreads throughout the ‘commons’ - in this case, the environment. However, representative democracy comes into play here yet again. Just as manipulating tax rates and employing other economic measures may have helped to affect the individuals, so can the incentives of big corporations change, depending on the rules of the game set by the government. With enough deliberation on the possibilities and consequences a measured response may carry, as well as keeping in liaison with local governments in order to ensure the flexibility of the response, it is ultimately the state, and i ts incentives, that drives what companies and individuals see as being ‘worth it’. While discussing the concept of the tragedy of the commons, one aspect of it remains a key ingredient of all legal measures aimed at preventing further pollution – the intricate relationship between developing and developed states. Holger Haibach and Kathrin Schneider in their article put high emphasis on this aspect, linking it to the complicated problem of contradicting incentives. 5 Rooted deeply in the international legal struggle against the climate crisis, developing states are both more
3 https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=40773 4 https://science.sciencemag.org/content/162/3859/1243 5 Haibach, Holger, and Kathrin Schneider 2013.
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