We have recently heard announcements about the future of some major development projects in the UK and beyond. It seems like any environmental objection to these projects has been dampened down as the reality of the current economic crisis hits home. The third runway at Heathrow and the development of a billion-dollar golf complex in Scotland, for example, have both been approved (subject to some final hurdles) and it seems as if the environmental objections have been drowned out by the call for investment to create new jobs.
This is completely understandable and in many ways, right. First and foremost, we must ensure the economy doesn’t suffer too badly in the coming years and individuals’ lives now will always inevitably take precedence over a somewhat nebulous (as it’s seen) future threat to the environment.
However, it also seems as if there’s a danger of throwing the baby out with the bathwater. You may have noticed that the number of environmental stories in the press has dropped considerably in recent weeks. The US election and the economy have dominated the news agenda and rightly so, but also strangely absent seems to be the talk of investment in future green technology and the development of a high-tech green future. Barack Obama used this as a central plank in his campaign – the desire to tackle climate change by creating new green-tech jobs – but in the UK this has gone ominously quiet.
The downturn and financial turbulence presents an opportunity to fundamentally change the way we interact with our environment to increase prosperity. Less reliance on mass-imported products, more focus on local manufacturers, creating jobs in the UK and minimising transportation emissions. We should be building a fairer, more progressive and ethical society and economy which provides us with much better insulation against any future recession.
Apparently, the UK has been seen as something of a leader in the global economic crisis . In order to lead the world out of these difficulties, it is time to look forward and not back. Running back to our safe, familiar, coal-warmed hole when times are tough is entirely understandable, but it is not the way to protect ourselves against future crises. The world will emerge from the current downturn and be looking around for someone who can present genuine, practical solutions to inequality and climate change, once these issues rise back up the political agenda. We should be brave, and instead of blindly approving environmentally questionable developments, we should be using this opportunity to develop the kind of products and services that the whole world will shortly be in desperate need of.
If you are interested in this topic, take a look at some of the articles here, which discuss the impact of the credit crunch on the environment.