Representative democracy and climate change
not put us on a clear path towards a solution – not one where citizens are allowed to preserve their political and social freedom anyway.
So, can representative democracy tackle climate change? Perhaps. The problemwith the assessment of how difficult the struggle for sustainability will be is the novelty which characterizes it. There has quite literally never been such a looming, divisive and yet universal threat to mankind. Youth organizations around the world have been incredibly effective in bringing light to the issue, but have done little to influence the p olitical sphere. There must come a day when it will be in corporations’ and people’ s immediate interest to reduce their impact on the climate. This moment can come in two ways: either we alter our political institutions and policies to encourage sustainability, or the catastrophic consequences of years of pollution will force us to do so, though then the reaction, should it occur, would come far too late. The choice is ours, for now at least.
Bibliography
Fisher, E, 2017. Environmental Law. A very short introduction . Oxford Gelbspan, R. 1997 ‘ Climate Change Threatens Democracy. ’ Earth Island Journal 12.3: 30-31. Accessed July 31, 2020. http://www.jstor.org/stable/43882398. Haibach, Holger, and Kathrin Schneider. 2013. ‘ The Politics of Climate Change: Review and Future Challenges. ’ In Climate Change: International Law and Global Governance: Volume II: Policy, Diplomacy and Governance in a Changing Environment : 357-74 (edited by Ruppel, O., Roschmann, C. and RuppelSchlichting, K; Baden-Baden). Accessed August 3, 2020. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv941vsk.18. Hardin, G., The Tragedy of the Commons , https://science.sciencemag.org/content/162/3859/1243 Accessed 20.07.2020 Long, G. ‘ Disagreement and Responses to Climate Change. ’ Environmental Values 20, no. 4 (2011): 503-25. Accessed July 31, 2020. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23048454 Popovich, B., The World Still Isn’t Meeting Its Climate Goals . https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/12/07/climate/world-emissions-parisgoals-not-on- track.html. Accessed 15.07.2020 Todd F (2020) From Canada to the UK, the countries planning to phase-out coal. Available at: https://www.iea- coal.org/from-canada-to-the-uk-which-countries-areplanning-a-coal-phase-out/.(Accessed: 25.03.2020) United States Energy Information Administration, Today in Energy. Accessed 20.07.2020 United States Environmental Protection Agency, Sources of Greenhouse Gas Emissions . Accessed 20.07.2020
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