The power to avert runaway climate change is held first and foremost by governments. It is a collective problem that can only be solved by concerted, decisive action by states. Only they have the power to tax, regulate and incentivise action. Even now, there is far more that they can and should do to put us on the right course.
But there are some systemic reasons why the political response to the
threat of catastrophic climate change has been so inadequate. This is not simply an issue of left or right. The devastating impacts of climate change will not be experienced by those contributing to the problem, reducing the public and political will to act now. The reluctance to regulate deters politicians from many highly cost-effective interventions. We lack the national and global governance mechanisms needed to secure public buy-in to the big choices that we face.
The chaos in the global economy has caused climate change to slip down the political agenda in many countries. This is self-defeating short-termism. A shift to low-carbon energy solutions is a prerequisite for a more secure and stable global economy in the long term.
So, who can persuade politicians to act at the necessary speed and scale? Businesses are a vital source of both action and influence. Those with long-term investment cycles have the greatest incentive to secure a policy framework that drives low-carbon investment. Ministers should heed these voices. Those who fear losses in the short-term currently have a disproportionate voice in the political process. But, like politicians, their actions are ultimately determined by public attitudes and the constraints of the markets in which they operate.
Fortunately, these constraints are shifting. For a long time, the environmental community has been the primary voice of civil society concern on climate change. This is changing fast. A growing movement of new interests and local initiatives, from development and faith groups to the transition towns movement, is unequivocal evidence that people want change fast and are finding ways to make it happen themselves.
It is by accelerating this shift that we can unlock the political action we need. The third sector – of voluntary groups, faith groups, trade unions and community organisations – has tremendous collective power both to influence government directly and to create the social foundations for political action.
As I argue in The New Politics of Climate Change: Why We Are Failing and How We Will Succeed, harnessing the power of the third sector is the critical step we need to take to win the war against climate change. This is too important to leave to the green movement alone.
Government can and must play its part in this. Ministers often bemoan the relative lack of civil society pressure for action on climate change. But they have a critical role in bringing this about. There is no sign that the office of the third sector has got this yet. But Ed Miliband will surely carry the lessons from his previous role as minister for the third sector into his new role at the Department of Energy and Climate Change.
Politicians are more powerful than they know, or choose to recognise. We must create the conditions that make it impossible for them to resist the case for action.