Politics and change Environmental problems are primarily political

Politics and change Environmental problems are primarily political products reflecting governance systems Systems are based on nation-state prosperity not regional or global perspective No evidence the world has changed behaviour significantly at policy level relating to carbon consumption since it was identified Consuming world has some ‘green lifestyles’ but not any major shift nationally Increased consumption in the East as economies go into high gear Can the world change when there is no incentive to change in the West? Can emerging countries change given the huge demand for poverty alleviation?

Denial and ignorance Western people are into denial, Eastern are into ignorance Too risky for Western politicians to advocate change when so much is at stake People are not pro- environment so actions will be resisted by voters Not an emergency compared to major issues like killing OBL There is no notion of the globe so global survival is a disabled term West wants to preserve existing life style, East wants to gain that. no common point

An inevitable future ? Idea of insularity/protection from Climate Change is high in the West Thinking is focussed status quo maintenance with the hope that the worst affected will disappear The high affected people will be the biggest problem as they may number nearly a billion Politics of violence is inevitable as the affected react through social violence and terrorism continued…

An inevitable future ? continues… Countries become embroiled in water and resource sharing conflicts leading to regional instability As regions –South Asia and China- lose stability the global economy will be affected including irreversible meltdowns and terrorism many times larger than now Climate change discourse has become a scientific discussion ignoring political impact. . Most discussions on solutions which only the West can afford. What stake can the affected East/ world have in this discourse?