LIVING IN A GLOBAL WORLD 149
A by-product of this energy
production is carbon dioxide, which
builds up in the upper atmosphere
and traps energy from the sun,
leading to “global warming” and
extreme weather events, such as
droughts, floods, and cyclones.
Innovative solutions
In The Politics of Climate Change
(2009) Giddens argues that
because the dangers posed by
environmental degradation and
climate change are not obvious or
immediately visible in everyday
life, many people ”...do nothing of
a concrete nature about them. Yet
waiting until such dangers become
visible and acute—in the shape of
catastrophes that are irrefutably the
result of climate change—before
being stirred to serious action will
be too late.”
“Giddens’ paradox” is the label
that he gives to this disconnect
between the rewards of the present
and the threat of future dangers
and catastrophes.
However, Giddens is optimistic
about the future. He believes that
the same human ingenuity that
gave rise to industrial and high-
tech societies can be used to find
innovative solutions to reducing
carbon emissions. For instance,
international cooperation is seeing
countries introducing carbon
trading schemes and carbon taxes,which use market forces to reward
companies that reduce their
greenhouse gas emissions.
New technologies are also being
researched, developed, and shared,
which could potentially end the
world’s reliance on fossil fuels, and
provide cheap and clean sources
of energy for both developed and
developing societies. ■See also: Zygmunt Bauman 136–43 ■ Manuel Castells 152–55 ■ Ulrich Beck 156–61 ■ David Held 170–71 ■
Thorstein Veblen 214–19 ■ Daniel Bell 224–25
...mining and
refining more
minerals for the
manufacture of
commodities....globalization and
the increasing
movement of people
and goods in cars,
trains, boats,
and planes....the mass
production of
consumer
products, which
become central to
people’s self-identity....greater
dependence on
technology, which
enhances human
capacities and
experiences.Industrialization spreads throughout the world, leading to...People don’t want to accept that their consumer lifestyles contribute
to carbon emissions, so climate change is a back-of-the-mind issue.Future discounting
According to Giddens, the
concept of “future discounting”
explains why people take steps
to solve present problems but
ignore the threats that face
them in the future. He notes
that people often choose a small
reward now, rather than take
a course of action that might
lead to a greater reward in the
future. The same psychological
principle applies to risks.
To illustrate his point,
Giddens uses the example of
a smoker. Why does a youngperson take up smoking, when
the health risks are widely
known? For the teenage smoker
it is almost impossible to
imagine being 40, the age at
which the dangers start to take
hold and have potentially fatal
consequences. This analogy
applies to climate change.
People are addicted to advanced
technology and the mobility
afforded by fossils fuels. Rather
than tackle an uncomfortable
reality, it is easier to ignore the
warnings of climate scientists.