The Australian Canary

I try to bring messages of hope in this blog. But there are times when hope is hard to find.

A friend of mine calls Australia the canary of climate change. Just as dying canaries once gave miners warning of dangerous gas levels in coal mines, so Australia is giving the world warning of what we can expect as climate change continues. Australia has always been a land of flood, drought and fire, but recent events, beamed to TVs around the world, have been creating new records. These are consistent with predictions made by climate scientists for many years that extreme weather events will become more frequent as the planet warms. So, following a decade of drought, Australia has experienced unprecedented flooding over areas larger than France and Germany combined, one of the biggest and most powerful cyclones (hurricanes) ever seen, and devastating bush fires.

In rebuilding after these natural disasters, we might expect the government to look for ways to reduce the risk of similar events in future. Certainly, they are looking at protecting more infrastructure and communities from devastating damage. But the link to climate change and the need to reduce global carbon emissions seems to have been missed. In looking for ways to cut the budget to pay for reconstruction, the government targeted support for solar power, which has the potential to reduce carbon emissions. It took one or two far-sighted independent members of the Parliament, and the Greens to force a change in this short-sighted policy.

In just the last week, Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced a plan to introduce a carbon pricing scheme within 18 months, but so far she has failed to make the connection with extreme weather events. The government’s intention is not to take a lead in the world, but simply to make sure Australia isn’t left behind in the shift to a low carbon economy. In this regard, the decision reflects comments by Professor Ross Garnaut, author of an influential government  report on climate change. He recently called for Australia to stop being a drag on the rest of the world.

This modest step has created a political furore. Even before any of the details have been thrashed out, the opposition party has sworn to fight this new ‘tax’ every inch of the way, and to repeal it when they get back into power. It seems that conservative forces in rich nations around the world are intent on burying their heads ever deeper in the sand, and continue to place priority on short-term economic growth and the demands of large corporations, rather than on long-term sustainability and the needs of the community.

In a wider context, Australia has traditionally been a major food exporter, but production has been severely affected - first by the years of drought, and now by the destruction of bumper crops by floods and hurricane winds. It seems Australia may even become a net food importer. Meanwhile, the price of food is skyrocketing worldwide following crop failures in Russia, China and elsewhere, combined with surging demand for food as incomes rise, particularly in China. It only needs one more major crop failure to wipe out stocks of some basic commodities, and turn the fear of shortages into reality. Already, millions more have been pushed into absolute poverty, and the rising price of bread has been an important factor in the unrest in North Africa and the Middle East.

Australia is not alone in its failure to come to grips with climate change. The USA is at least as resistant, and the UK is often marked more by rhetoric than achievement. Why is it that governments often seem so short sighted? There are many reasons. Democratic governments are hamstrung by the electoral cycle, unable to do anything for the long-term that would be unpopular with an electorate that is hooked on the hip-pocket and consumerism. Often, too, they are heavily influenced by big corporations which bankroll their election campaigns, fund huge numbers of lobbyists, control the flow of information through media ownership, and foster the addiction to consumerism through advertising. Corporations focus almost exclusively on their share price, and short-term returns to shareholders - not to mention huge salaries and bonuses for directors. To them the long term may be no more than 5 years. Underpinned by unquestioned belief in the free-market, these factors create a powerful barrier to visionary action.

A second barrier comes in the form of psychological defence mechanisms. Many people are simply too caught up in the challenges of career, family, status, leisure and consumption to find space to consider issues that will affect their children and grandchildren in 20 or 50 years time. Many, too, are affected by traumas of which they may not even be aware that originated in infancy, or even with their parents or grandparents. As a result, they may suffer from relationship and family problems, or anxiety, depression, phobias, denial and other psychological defence mechanisms that prevent them from facing up to the reality of a future that is too terrifying to face. These limitations apply as much to government and corporate leaders as to members of the general public. Such denial amongst individuals creates a collective denial in which whole communities and nations ignore the disasters headed their way.

Given this gloomy picture, it’s sometimes hard to see the signs of hope. And yet Australia is home to many seeds of hope too.
•    Australia’s natural disasters stimulated an outpouring of generosity. Strangers helped each other through the hardest times. People came as volunteers to help clean-up. Donations poured in. These actions will do much to limit the trauma, and will create enduring community bonds and spirit that will outlast the events.
•    Australia currently has a minority government dependent on the support of a few independents and Green party members. The result is a more open, flexible and creative process that is undoubtedly producing some good decisions.
•    New forms of political action are emerging to support important values and long-term goals. Examples include GetUp! in Australia and Avaaz internationally. They are using the power of public opinion and thousands of small donations to influence governments on key issues. Similar methods are being used by many traditional campaigning organisations, including Friends of the Earth and Amnesty International.
•    Organisations and individuals are using the internet to wrest control of information from the media corporations, and challenge government secrecy, as shown by the publicity given to wikileaks. 
•    The web and cell phones are also being used to coordinate more direct actions against government and corporate policies, and to undermine the power of dictatorial regimes. In the UK, UK Uncut is campaigning against the government’s stringent budget cuts, and tax-avoiding corporations. Similar tactics are being used to coordinate public protests across North Africa and the Middle East.
•    Some corporations are recognising the reality of climate change, and are adopting forward-looking strategies that will give them a competitive advantage in the emerging low-carbon economy.