Vol. 6 No. 2 (2022)
Comment

The Last Lap

PDF
  • Mark Beeson
Mark Beeson
University of Technology Sydney
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3197/JPS.63788304908973

Published 2022-06-14 — Updated on 2022-08-07

Keywords

  • environmental politics,
  • leadership,
  • progress,
  • cooperation,
  • values

How to Cite

Beeson, Mark. 2022. “The Last Lap”. The Journal of Population and Sustainability 6 (2):13-29. https://doi.org/10.3197/JPS.63788304908973.

Copyright (c) 2022 Mark Beeson

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Crossref
Scopus
Google Scholar
Europe PMC

Abstract

What do responsible environmental behaviour and practice look like, especially for those of us who despair of effective policies being enacted by the current generation of political elites? This paper provides a personal response to the ethical and policy dilemma of our times. I attempt to explain what may seem like – and possibly is – entirely self-indulgent behaviour on the basis that I can make absolutely no difference at the sort of macro level that is needed to ‘save the planet’. In the process I try to explain why thousands of others have made similar choices and why cooperation even amongst well-intentioned and informed individuals is so hard and unlikely to succeed.

PDF

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

  1. Barros, A. 2021. ‘Biden’s first year brings modest changes to immigration policy’. VoA, 27 December: https://www.voanews.com/a/biden-s-first-year-brings-modest-changes-to-immigration-policy/6367512.html. Accessed 28 December 2021.
  2. Beaumont, P. 2021. ‘Decades of progress on extreme poverty now in reverse due to Covid’. The Guardian, 3 February. https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2021/feb/03/decades-of-progress-on-extreme-poverty-now-in-reverse-due-to-covid. Accessed 5 February 2021.
  3. Beeson, M. 2019. Rethinking Global Governance. Basingstoke: Palgrave.
  4. Beeson, M. 2021. Environmental Anarchy? Security in the 21st Century. Bristol: Bristol University Press. https://doi.org/10.1332/policypress/9781529209389.001.0001
  5. Bruckner, B., K. Hubacek and Y. Shan. 2022. ‘Impacts of poverty alleviation on national and global carbon emissions’. Nature Sustainability, 14 February. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-021-00842-z#citeas. Accessed 16 February 2022.
  6. Carrington, D. 2020. ‘Deadly diseases from wildlife thrive when nature is destroyed, study finds’. The Guardian, 6 August: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/aug/05/deadly-diseases-from-wildlife-thrive-when-nature-is-destroyed-study-finds. Accessed 8 August 2020.
  7. CBS. 2019. ‘“Now everyone will become super nationalistic”: Sweden’s backlash against immigrants and the rise of the right’. 14 April: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/sweden-rise-of-the-right-immigrants-unwelcome-cbsn-originals/. Accessed 16 April 2019.
  8. Collier, P. 2007. The Bottom Billion: Why the Poorest Countries Are Failing and What Can Be Done About It. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  9. Funk, C. 2021. ‘Key findings: How Americans’ attitudes about climate change differ by generation, party and other factors’. Pew Research Centre, 26 May: https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/05/26/key-findings-how-americans-attitudes-about-climate-change-differ-by-generation-party-and-other-factors/. Accessed 28 May 2021.
  10. Hickel, J. 2020. Less Is More: How Degrowth Will Save the World. London: Penguin.
  11. Horne, D. 2009. The Lucky Country. London: Penguin.
  12. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). 2022. Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability. New York: United Nations.
  13. Khanna, P. 2021. ‘Migration will soon be the biggest climate challenge of our time’. Financial Times, 3 October: https://www.ft.com/content/415f4a8c-cab4-4f95-99aa-b347bb510365. Accessed 5 October 2021.
  14. Lovelock, J. 2006. The Revenge of Gaia: Why the Earth is Fighting Back – And How We Can Still Save Humanity. London: Allen Lane.
  15. Mann, J. 2004. Rise of the Vulcans: The History of Bush’s War Cabinet. New York: Viking.
  16. Menezes, R.G. and R. Barbosa. 2021. ‘Environmental governance under Bolsonaro: dismantling institutions, curtailing participation, delegitimising opposition’. Zeitschrift für Vergleichende Politikwissenschaft, 12 August: 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12286-021-00491-8
  17. Milman, O. 2021. ‘Meat accounts for nearly 60% of all greenhouse gases from food production, study finds’. The Guardian, 14 September: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/sep/13/meat-greenhouses-gases-food-production-study. Accessed 16 September 2021.
  18. Monroe, R. 2021. ‘Ultra-fast fashion is eating the world’. The Atlantic, 6 February: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2021/03/ultra-fast-fashion-is-eating-the-world/617794/. Accessed 8 February 2021.
  19. Morton, A. 2021. ‘Coalition’s misleading tactics will no longer cut it – the IPCC report shows our future depends on urgent climate action’. The Guardian, 10 August: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/aug/10/coalitions-misleading-tactics-will-no-longer-cut-it-the-ipcc-report-shows-our-future-depends-on-urgent-climate-action?
  20. Munro, K. and A. Oliver. 2019. ‘Polls apart: how Australian views have changed on “boat people”’. The Interpreter, 19 February: https://www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpreter/polls-apart-how-australian-views-have-changed-on-boat-people. Accessed 20 February 2019.
  21. SBS. 2021. ‘Interactive: How Australia compares to the rest of the world on CO2 emissions’. SBS, 4 November: https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/interactive-how-australia-compares-to-the-rest-of-the-world-on-co2-emissions/7oooxwnnm, Accessed 6 November 2021.
  22. Thompson, T. 2021. ‘Young people’s climate anxiety revealed in landmark survey’. Nature, 597, 22 September: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-02582-8. Accessed 24 September 2021.
  23. Trilling, D. 2021. Dark things are happening on Europe’s borders. Are they a sign of worse to come?’ The Guardian, 8 November: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/nov/08/dark-europe-border-migrants-climate-displacement. Accessed 9 November 2021.