{"id":868,"date":"2013-03-13T09:24:01","date_gmt":"2013-03-13T09:24:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kevinanderson.info\/blog\/?p=868"},"modified":"2013-03-14T17:25:53","modified_gmt":"2013-03-14T17:25:53","slug":"mar-2013-presentation-at-joseph-rowntree-foundation-event-on-climate-and-fairne","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/kevinanderson.info\/blog\/mar-2013-presentation-at-joseph-rowntree-foundation-event-on-climate-and-fairne\/","title":{"rendered":"Mar 2013. Presentation at Joseph Rowntree Foundation event on climate and fairness"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pdf of presentation at: Pick a card \u2013 any card. How in fudging targets to meet politically-palatable goals, climate scientists undermine issues of equity and fairness<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Yesterday (13 March) I attended an engaging workshop, organised by Katherine Knox and JRF colleagues, and tasked with considering\u00a0\u201cHow can we fairly and effectively meet our climate change targets\u201d \u2013 <\/em>all with a focus on the UK.<\/p>\n

Building on two recent JRF funded reports \u201cDistribution of Carbon Emissions in the UK<\/a>\u201d; and, \u201cDesigning Carbon Taxation to Protect Low-income Households<\/a>\u201d, the event included papers and discussions from a wide range of participants \u2013 with the Guardian\u2019s Fiona Harvey, as chair, using her knowledge of climate change to probe presenters and discussants.<\/p>\n

A clash of views with John Gummer <\/strong><\/span>(chair of the Committee on Climate Change)
\nI was asked to present on the framing of climate targets and how they linked to issues of fairness; John Gummer then responded, laying out his concerns around communicating climate change. He opened with an impassioned attack of the value of my contribution \u2013 arguing that we need to engender a much more optimistic view of the challenges if we are to \u201cwin a sufficient constituency\u201d to bring about meaningful change. This was a criticism I hear repeatedly \u2013 and one I continue to ponder \u2013 but for now at least, I remain unconvinced that it is my job to spin a cheery yarn \u2013 the numbers just don\u2019t support such tenuous optimism. Nevertheless, I continue to hold to the view that an outside chance of meeting international commitments around 2\u00b0C still exists \u2013 albeit reducing daily as we and our leaders continue to favour apathy over action.<\/em><\/p>\n

It is in communicating this eroding thread of hope, that I depart from John Gummer and others who argue that \u201cthe public\u201d needs to be coaxed into action with optimistic tales of win-win, green growth and rosy futures. Personally, I don\u2019t think it either effective or appropriate that we appoint ourselves paternal arbiters, censoring what is and isn\u2019t fit for public consumption; all too Orwellian!<\/em><\/p>\n

So I will continue to translate my and colleagues analysis into a clear and direct language that reflects accurately the framing and conclusions of our research. And undoubtedly we will continue to be dismissed as politically na\u00efve, unengaged with the \u201creal world\u201d, scaring audiences, and sharing findings with a public ill-equipped to grasp the repercussions (or so I am advised by a self-appointed group who are apparently well equipped!).<\/em><\/p>\n

Finally, John Gummer asserted that imperialism was dead and that we need to wake up to the new and market\u2013dominated framing of world issues. I am unconvinced by this argument. In contrast, I see imperialism thriving \u2013 with the new and much more invidious \u2018Church of Mammon’ fossil-fuelling the crusade. Until we acknowledge this dogmatic Zeitgeist along with the scale of the challenge we face, our blinkers will remain firmly in place and we\u2019ll fail to conceive of an alternative low-carbon and climate-resilient future.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Pdf of presentation at: Pick a card \u2013 any card. How in fudging targets to meet politically-palatable goals, climate scientists undermine issues of equity and fairness Yesterday (13 March) I attended an engaging workshop, organised by Katherine Knox and JRF colleagues, and tasked with considering\u00a0\u201cHow can we fairly and effectively meet our climate change targets\u201d \u2013 all with a focus on the UK. Building on two recent JRF funded reports \u201cDistribution of Carbon Emissions in the UK\u201d; and, \u201cDesigning Carbon Taxation to Protect Low-income Households\u201d, the event included papers and discussions from a wide range of participants \u2013 with the\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_s2mail":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":5}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/kevinanderson.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/868"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/kevinanderson.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/kevinanderson.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/kevinanderson.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/kevinanderson.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=868"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"http:\/\/kevinanderson.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/868\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":872,"href":"http:\/\/kevinanderson.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/868\/revisions\/872"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/kevinanderson.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=868"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/kevinanderson.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=868"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/kevinanderson.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=868"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}