4.3.5.3 International Concern about Environmental Issues

(This is an archived extract from the book Patterns of Power: Edition 2)

Some environmental issues are global: actions in one country affect the people in other countries. Climate change is a particularly challenging issue in moral terms because those who will be most adversely affected by global warming (e.g. in Bangladesh) are not necessarily those who are contributing the most to the problem (e.g. in America), and who would therefore have to do most to rectify it. Michael Sandel argued, in the fourth 2009 Reith Lecture, for a change in attitudes:

“Consider the environment. If the countries of the world are able to change patterns of energy use and bring about a meaningful reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, it will not be because emissions trading schemes allow countries to buy and sell the right to pollute. Market mechanisms can be useful instruments. But real change will depend on changing people’s attitudes toward nature, and rethinking our responsibilities toward the planet we share. This is a moral and spiritual project, not only an economic one.”[1]

He argued that the environment should be seen as a moral issue and that addressing it was partly (but not solely) a moral matter. The international moral aspect comes from the words “the planet we share”. Translating sentiment into action can take place at three levels:

· People in rich countries can modify their behaviour, for example by reducing their personal carbon footprints, to help the planet as a whole. This will benefit people in the places most affected by climate change – which are often in poorer countries.

· People can also put pressure on their governments to support international action, as described previously (4.3.4).

· They can amplify their personal political impact by creating international pressure groups (6.4.4).

The political impacts can then extend into use of economic power (3.5.7.1), or into legislation (5.2.1) etc.