Why we resist the truth about climate change – book review

Requiem for a Species by Clive Hamilton is the first post-Copenhagen book to spell out the enormous implications of our failure to reach an agreement. It says in public what the climate scientists are saying in private. It explores the reasons why we have ignored the warnings and failed to act. And it tells us what we can do now. In part the book is about the frailties of the human species: a brutally perceptive book about climate change denial in all its forms.

No escaping the science
Climate scientists now agree that to have a fighting chance of avoiding catastrophic warming, global greenhouse gas emissions must peak within the next few years then begin a rapid decline to the point where all energy generation and industrial processes are completely carbon free. Yet it is impossible to imagine that the world will be able to reach any sort of agreement that will bring about reductions at the speed required to avoid tipping points, an assessment confirmed by the failure at Copenhagen.

Even with optimistic assumptions about the timing and extent of emissions reductions, the world is on a path to four degrees and more of average warming, and much higher on land. Once tipping points are crossed humans will lose control over the climate, so “stabilisation” of the climate is impossible. Old ideas about “adapting” to climate change are now obsolete; survival will require continuous transformation.

Growth fetishism
Growth fetishism lies at the heart of the climate crisis. Every move to reduce greenhouse gas emissions meets the growth barrier. Industry and climate sceptics routinely claim that cutting emissions would ‘wreck the economy’ and ‘jeopardise prosperity’. Yet estimates of the effect on economic growth of even large reductions in emissions show that the costs would be tiny. Combined with the fact that in rich countries doubling incomes will not enhance national happiness, this suggests that the power of the growth fetish lies not in the actual effects of abatement policies on growth but in the symbolic meaning of endless growth. The “growth machine” has assumed a power of its own and no-one who questions the pre-eminence of growth is allowed near its levers.

In affluent societies, consumption is no longer aimed at meeting material needs but at reproducing ourselves psychologically.

The consumer self
In affluent societies, consumption is no longer aimed at meeting material needs but at reproducing ourselves psychologically. That consumption is the primary means by which we create an identity is well understood by modern marketing. If, in order to solve climate change, we are asked to change the way we consume, then we are being asked to change who we are—to experience a sort of death. The individualism that attends modern consumption explains the appeal of “green consumerism”, the idea that the climate crisis can be solved by all of us “doing the right thing” and changing our supermarket behaviour. Rather than shifting responsibility to individuals, only collective action through government can work. In China, however, the state derives its political legitimacy from accelerating consumption.

Many forms of denial
The sceptics have succeeded in shifting political debate over climate change, even though their position is a repudiation of the Enlightenment. Attitudes to global warming are now closely aligned with broader political worldviews, particularly in the United States. But the climate sceptics are responsible for only the most obvious form of denial –rejection of climate science. There are more insidious psychological strategies deployed by the public and our political leaders, including reducing the scale of the threat, shifting attention, denying of guilt, engaging in wishful thinking and concentrating on hedonic pursuits.

For those who face up to the threat of climate change, there are more psychologically mature strategies of coping with natural feelings of despair, anger and hopelessness. These include expressing emotion and becoming active.

Disconnection from Nature
The sustained assault on the natural world over the last two to three centuries has been possible only because humans have become alienated from the natural world. The process of disconnection began with the rise of the mechanical philosophy in the second half of the 17th century. It represented a transition from a conception of a living earth to the belief that the earth is dead, a collection of “resources” for human use. The tension between the old and the new was reflected in the contrast between the public and private views of Isaac Newton. The chapter considers whether James Lovelock’s Gaia theory represents a “rebirth of nature” that provides the basis for a new ecological consciousness.

As the climate crisis unfolds, an increasingly desperate search for effective means of ‘planetary management’ will begin …

Is there a way out?

Is there a way of avoiding the onset of the great climate disruption? Although hopes are invested in carbon capture and storage, the technology will come too late, if at all. Renewable energy and nuclear power could be deployed on a large enough scale to provide a more secure future, but the prospects of investment on the scale required are virtually zero. As the climate crisis unfolds, an increasingly desperate search for effective means of ‘planetary management’ will begin, with attention even now shifting to geoengineering schemes such as injecting vast amounts of sulphur into the atmosphere. The consequences are likely to be disastrous. The politics of it are bizarre.

The four-degree world
How long will it take before we see a world radically transformed by global warming? What does it mean for our children and grandchildren? Drawing on the latest science, this chapter provides an overview of how the world will unfold as we approach and exceed warming of 4°C. It reports the public and semi-private thoughts of leading climate scientists. We are ‘reweaving the web of life’, says one. Another observes that runaway climate change makes redundant traditional ideas about adaptation. Rather, survival will require a process of continuous transformation. How many humans will survive is anyone’s guess.

Reconstructing a future
Clinging to hopefulness has become a means of avoiding the truth about climate change. In the circumstances, to despair is human, but succumbing to apathy is unhelpful. We have to abandon the accustomed view of the future as an improving version of the past and rethink a future under severe climate disruption. Passing from despair to acceptance requires a huge psychological shift, akin to passing through a process of grieving, but until it is done we will not be in a position to take the measures needed. It requires developing a new sense of self and its relationship to the natural environment.

Beyond acceptance, action is demanded, because only by resisting can we maintain our dignity. Despair, accept, act. While it is too late to prevent climate disruption, any measures to reduce global emissions can at least delay the worst effects. The democratic system must be radicalized with the aim of resisting those who want to do nothing and defeating those who would protect themselves at the expense of others. We must democratise survivability.

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By Clive Hamilton, published by Earthscan, HB £14.99, publication date 16 April 2010

www.earthscan.co.uk/requiem

Picture credit: courtesy of Earthscan