https://youtu.be/Rhcrbcg8HBw
Eleni

“Society is beginning to place greater value on sustainability, and that’s a precondition to solving the climate crisis.” In this podcast Carney talks about the human frailties that created the tragedy of the horizon, meaning that future generations will have to deal with the impacts of climate change which is rooted in the economic models and the rapid growth that we pursued for too long. The Gross Domestic Product reflects a monetary value, but not factors such as well-being or our planet and nature. To save our planet we must achieve net zero. 

To create a greater feeling of responsibility Carney suggests that there are two solutions to the tragedy of the commons: property rights and pollution pricing. He further notes that we can “unleash the dynamic of the private sector” through the development of a consensus for sustainability so that value reflects values.

“If the society sets a clear goal, it will become profitable to be part of the solution, and costly to remain part of the problem.”

Whilst I do agree with this and whilst I would love to believe that this is achievable, I have mostly felt pessimistic in the past, simply based on what I see and what is wasted. 

I really do hope that values are changing quickly enough and that social movements gain enough traction to lead to sustainable investments that would drive a total transformation. (Anna, 675638)

Feminism is 'politics of becoming' in place, embraced by decentralised, uncoordinated,

and place-based consciousness-raising groups. 

The second-wave movement is characterised by intermixing of alternative discourses, shared language, embodied practices,

self-cultivation, emplaced actions, and global transformation. 

Its practice of seeing and speaking differently enables us to make visible the hidden and alternative economic activities and see non-capitalist activities as prevalent

and viable as a way to transform local economies.

Eleni, 686974

“Chasing growth through loose monetary policy in the face of challenging underlying fundamentals had led to financial bubbles which destabilised finance and culminated in crisis.” 

Gordon Brown pointed at the era of “easy money” and the age of “irresponsibility” but there has never been a stretch in which our economy did grow sustainably.  

Jackson points out that the two economic approaches that dominated the last century, Keynesian or monetarism, are not adequate to tackle today’s problems. 

He highlights that inequality is not necessarily inevitable but notes that we have been obsessed with a “growth-fetish” , consistently trying to revamp capitalism. 

This has hindered ecological innovation and exacerbated financial instability and inequalities. 

To really progress he acknowledges that we have to let go of a “fossil-fuel driven hyper-productivity” and create the conditions that are needed on a planet with finite resources.  (Anna, 675638)

I really don’t see recreational travel going on away on its own. I see it shooting right back up if and when the opportunity arises (I may be wrong). Even though historically speaking it is a fairly new thing to do, for a significant amount of people it’s become almost like a right to go on holiday (a break from the stress of ‘normal’/working life); overseas gap-years and ‘travelling’ have become like a rite-of-passage for many too…

 

(just to clarify, I don’t necessarily judge people for wishing to/going on holiday abroad, gap-years, travelling, etc). 

Jacob Heath 685615

response to Jacob 
The issue with all this, is that even if superfluous leisure travel goes down, all it would do is free up the resources to be used somewhere else, so it would make zero difference to overall emissions picture. In my view, one really must target the supply of oil/gas/coal, to ensure it stays in the ground and does not end up as CO2 in the atmosphere.
Marie

Response to Jacob and Marie
I also thought it sounded presumptuous (and unrealistic) to say that international travel 'will go away on their own'. I think it will go back to pre-Covid levels within a few years. That said, I don't think personal travel is entirely incompatible with the path to sustainable greenhouse gas emissions. I also disagree with Galbraith on the limitations of sustainable forms of energy like solar and wind. It's more a case of political will.
Will 676615

Sarah Kazira

 

There is also David Harvey – somehow a geographer and anthropologist, I don’t know how. I couldn’t find the video but somewhere there is an interview with him, and he describes his participation in a sustainable city (New York, I think) design group with urban designers, architects, council officials (or whatever is equivalent to the councils in New York), etc. All members of the group really valued his ideas on how to build and develop the city sustainably for the future. At the end of the meeting, group members asked him where he got his ideas from. Marx was Harvey’s response. And that was the end of Harvey’s involvement with that group. 

 

Point being that whilst I mostly agree with you – there is a lot of critique without solutions – but when some do offer solutions, they are excluded, disagreed with, scoffed at… Of course, this is not what happens every time. 

If I find the video will post here :-)

Jacob Heath 685615

Response to Jacob:
Great example with Harvey and his disclosure of a divisive philosophy - if only the 'group' were curious enough to deconstruct and value what was between Marxism (opposition) and themselves, in order to value what Harvey contributed. Clare 677349

2.Everything must go somewhere,

3.Nature knows best, and

4.Nothing comes from nothing

Perhaps if the above laws were imbibed at level of policy/implementation design the 2nd order effects countering the purpose of the action may be pre-empted.

I also found Hickel and Kallis’ 'solution' very interesting. Beyond calls for de-growth (or at least significantly slower growth), they suggest that we find ways to “decouple prosperity and development from growth” (483). I definitely agree with this idea, as the whole idea of ‘green growth’ has always sounded like an oxymoron. However, this would be a major ideological shift, and I was left wondering how exactly this could be achieved. Basic income is mentioned, for instance, which seems to suggest shifting the focus from the market to the state. 

Edda (667994)

I really liked your post -very interesting and beautifully written. In fact, about the meanings of land that are been overseen: yesterday I read a post on Instagram (I need to find the source) that explained that in the US the 98% of the land is owned by white people, and only 1% belongs to black people, as to show how economic reparations are needed in the country: the land is still a factor of social inequality and the billions made through the land are still a reflection of the institution of chattel slavery. Laura Torres

My thoughts during Carney’s lecture were reflected by a question posed Stefanie, she brought the lectures attention to the effects a changing climate has the poorest countries, the least developed, the greatest - how can international finance ensure that ‘global North’ countries take responsibility? Carney’s reply felt rushed to me, perhaps simply due to a lack of time, suggesting that responsibility MUST be taken, that money will be invested in the supply chains and directly in these emerging economies through global banks. I wish he had included some mention of this aspect in his lecture and did not have to be directly questioned at the end.
-Rebecca Luff

 “Reducing current consumption is an unpleasant prospect, sure to provoke two questions: How much? And whose? […] It is possible – as the pandemic is also teaching – to reduce consumption in wealthy societies and to do so with relatively small loss of psychic well-being, so long as basic needs are met. A great many leisure-time activities that are energy-intensive – recreational travel is a major one– are simply superfluous in the pandemic and will go away on their own” (4-5). This is true but in a very classist way: at least in Spain, and I am sure that in other places, wealthy people have still been able to travel (they have secondary houses, if the plane tickets rise they have money to pay for them, they also have enough money to pay for the PCR -200 euros on average- that many countries ask for, etc. -I live near the airport of Madrid and during quarantine, when traveling was forbidden, there were many planes going around without us understanding how, then we found out that private jets were becoming more popular with covid!!) so it is the middle/low income parts of society who stop enjoying “superfluous” activities and carry on their shoulders the responsibility of compensating the planet for the climate abuse. I agree that we need to reduce consumption as a responsible act towards the environment, but it should be done in a regulated, equitable way: everyone should be part of the ‘sacrifice’ to consume less, it can’t be a question of money. I guess this is my question this week: How can we ensure that everybody, society as a whole, reduces its consumption (e.g. traveling for leisure) without favoring classist dynamics? - Laura Torres

I am sure that as Covid-19 begins to fade and life starts to return to somewhat normal consumption will rise again. I think that superfluous leisure activities, like travel, will not “go away on their own” (5). That as Sarah M suggested, changes such as reducing office space would cause energy increases in individual households. I what the paper suggests is that the pandemic is useful for reflection, that the slowdown will help people to think about how their lives have changed and what this means for our planet, questioning how to continue to function in the future. Also, worth noting, I liked how Galbraith concluded the paper suggesting that universities could switch resources from economic departments to environmental science to “create the intellectual climate necessary for ideas to become…relevant to effective action” (5).
-Rebecca Luff

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOpa8kd6fBI&ab_channel=OurChangingClimate

Anna (675638)