The rise in global temperature started in the early 1970’s and has now reached a point where it has created a crisis in the climate. One of the contributing factors to this temperature increase has been political short-termism. Can political short-termism ever be overcome in time to save the planet?
Problems have been building up in the environment for at least fifty years. To give the timescale some context it is between two to three generations or approximately ten changes in government. With each new government there are changes in policy that feed through into the way that we live. These changes are usually to address short term problems for example capping energy prices to meet affordability needs. This political short-termism fails to balance solutions to the short term problems against the long term objectives such as reducing climate change or other long term problems such as poverty.
Some solutions to combating political short-termism are being developed. For example a Future Generations Commisioner has been created for Wales whose role is to “ … be the guardian of future generations. This means helping public bodies and those who make policy in Wales to think about the long-term impact their decisions have.” Pressure is mounting on the UK Governement to create a similar role. But this is a form of ‘soft power’ which uses persuasion rather than having the power to change policy. This role should be at the Minister of State level with enough resources to make sure that government policy has clear targets so that they can be held accountable in improving the lives of future generations.
Politicians and the political process never gets a good press. They overpromise and under deliver. But ultimately the decisions that they make affect our lives. Therefore we need a new generation of politicians who can hold an on-going discussion with all levels in society about the changes that we collectively face both for the short and long term.
It must start with education. As part of my secondary education I completed a course called Modern Studies. It used a multidisciplinary approach to introduce contemporary political and social issues in local, national and international contexts. We studied different political systems from communism to democracy as well as the people who shaped those political systems. It gave us the skills to interpret and possibly participate in the social and political processes that could encounter in our lives. This is the sort of course that should be made available to all students at secondary level. An even more radical thought would be to give 16 year olds the vote after they completed the course - after all they are going to inherit the planet!
When we look back over the decades it is clear that political short-termism has played a part in the Climate Crisis and in other long term problems such as poverty. The challenge is to refresh the political process by getting people involved who are committed to taking both a short and long term view in addressing the major problems that we face. This is something which has never been done before. But we have never faced a climate crisis before!