The Politics of Climate Change

Anthony Giddens
The Politics of Climate Change
Cambridge UK and Malden, MA, USA: Polity, 2009, ISBN-13: 978-0-7456-4692-3, 264 pp.

Lord Giddens is one of the most highly regarded living sociologists and has written widely on social theory, modernity, and globalisation. Of course he has been influential in shaping the politics of UK and Europe, as one of the pioneers of the 'Third Way' in British politics. When such a luminary turns to analyse climate change, we know that the issue has made it to the centre of the political stage. Giddens is at pains to emphasise that although many other analysts are 'jumping on the bandwagon' of climate change, his own contribution is different. His book starts with the assertion that we have no politics of climate change, and then sets out to define how that politics should play out in the context of industrialised, parliamentary, democratic society.

Giddens advances three key arguments which are helpful in understanding how climate change can be dealt with in mainstream politics. First, that climate change is not a left/right issue, and that a cross-party framework is necessary. We can see this as now manifest in the agendas of the main political parties in the UK, with each competing to demonstrate that they indeed have the best policies to address climate change. No party any longer dares to claim that climate change is not important. Secondly, progress on climate change can be achieved only through 'political and economic convergence' (p. 8), meaning that climate change must overlap with other political goals, and that economic and technological innovations developed to address climate change must be competitive. Thirdly, climate-change politics must recognise the 'development imperative' - the necessity for poorer countries to develop their economies - so policy must identify cleaner development pathways and opportunities for technological 'leapfrogging'. Giddens' vision is of an 'ensuring state' - recognising the need for security (for example, its citizens' energy needs) - as an enabler, as well as a regulator. The state is the key actor driving Giddens' climate-change politics.

While this is all interesting and a well-articulated analysis, the arguments do not fully address the real crux of the climate-change problem, and especially what this means for international development and the likelihood of achieving meaningful progress towards global poverty alleviation or sustainable development. While arguing for 'realist' approaches, Giddens is in danger of steering us along the familiar unsustainable pathway of 'business-as-usual'. The magnitude of the climate-change phenomenon, the potential severity of its impacts (especially for the poor in poor countries), and the urgent need for action take us beyond what we have ever experienced, requiring radical solutions. I believe that we have already exceeded the point of 'realism' in this sense.

Giddens lays much of the blame for inaction on climate change on the Green movement. He argues that environmental activists have promoted a view of climate change as a dire crisis, and that addressing the problem requires sacrifices which will entail personal costs. This is an unacceptable message for society at large and for politicians. He therefore rejects the idea of the precautionary principle, a position which somehow seems to contradict much of the argument that he presents in the book on the need to take action now and to 'get climate change politics moving' (p. 16).

Giddens' analysis of climate change rests on what he calls the 'Giddens Paradox': as the dangers posed by climate change are not tangible, immediate, or visible in the course of day-to-day life, many people will not do anything. However, the longer we wait to undertake action, the worse the impact will be and the more likely that many of the impacts will be irreversible. I think his articulation of this apparent paradox has two major flaws. First, it is not new: scholars working on environmental and sustainability issues have long recognised this problem, and indeed many studies have analysed it, for example from the perspective of environmental psychology, risk and behaviour, intergenerational equity, institutional analysis, and even economics. Secondly, it fails to recognise the distributional aspects of climate change: those people and societies most severely affected are not those who are causing or who have caused the problem. This is at the heart of the international dilemma over development and climate change.

Most of the book is focused on climate change in industrialised countries, so it may be of limited interest to those readers living and working in developing countries, or those concerned primarily with issues of international development or social justice, or relating climate change to other development priorities. It does not provide many insights or concrete policy suggestions on equitable and workable adaptation and mitigation strategies appropriate to developing-country contexts, or for understanding how these interests are played out and negotiated in international agreements and action on climate change. However the book provides a very well-written and accessible summary of the challenges and opportunities for mainstreaming climate change in UK politics.