Beyond the market fix: shaping emerging climate strategies.

Date

2010-12-17T00:55:11Z

Authors

Biggar, Jamie

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

Abstract

This thesis offers a critique of the dominant strategy to prevent catastrophic climate change, which I call the market fix, and starting points for developing an alternative strategy, which I call the common transition. To prevent catastrophic climate change GHG emissions must both peak by around 2015 and be reduced to near zero by 2050. I will argue that it is unlikely that the market fix will be able to reduce GHG emissions sufficiently because there is a powerful and resilient drive for destructive kinds of economic growth embedded in the relationship between states and the global economy. For this reason, the market fix relies on unrealistically rapid technological development to reduce GHG emissions sufficiently without threatening general economic growth or powerful economic interests. I will argue that self organizing networks and commons institutions, the two key elements of the common transition, can be woven together to change the relationship between societies and their economies in order to weaken the drive for destructive kinds of economic growth, directly reduce GHG emissions, and create a new context for climate action in which societies have a greater ability to achieve zero GHG emissions by 2050.

Description

Keywords

Climate change, Climate movement, Political economy, Environmental studies, Global warming, Clean energy, Environmental economics, Climatic changes

Citation