Chapter XXV of Rio Plus 20 Document by Cho Tab Khen Zambuling (Alfredo Sfeir-Younis)
XXV. The Human And Social Matrix
Global warming is about the decision-making by, and external behaviour of, key actors. These are the actors who are engaged in public policy as well as in investing in technological change, production and so many other activities that affect the natural environment and, ultimately, the level of global warming. The same actors affect the social and human environment within their areas of influence and, thus, affect the state of human welfare of millions of people. Indeed, they affect their level of inner warming in many ways (e.g., unemployment, poverty, marginalization, exclusion).
In the aggregate we see that the accumulated effect of those actors is global warming as well as environmental deterioration. In this regard, if the behaviour of these actors does not change –both inner and outer change—then our future is not very desirable. There is a complex and diverse matrix of actors. It is not just one or two.
One can see the influence of those actors as being individual and collective. There are also free agents in that they act very independently of the rest (like the average consumer), and who are having –directly or indirectly– almost-unlimited access to our environment, and there are those actors that are bound by different forms of organizations (e.g., governments employees). Tone could also identify actors who are elected by ‘others’ (e.g., presidents, representatives in parliament) and actors that are often self-empowered (e.g., most entrepreneurs). And, there is much more. All of them have a view and experience with global warming and depending on the existing incentive structure, they will act accordingly. Within their own sphere of influence, each of them has an interest to defend and promote (e.g., buy more cars, locate an industry somewhere, and promote the consumption of fuels). Each of them uses instruments (e.g., government people use regulations, industries use technologies, distributors use prices) and alternative forms of government (e.g., democracy, dictatorship) or governance (e.g., representative, centralized). In sum, in addressing the issues of global warming we are confronted with a complex matrix of actors and institutional arrangements.
As one sets a strategic path to address global warming, the challenge becomes identified with the need to find the most appropriate forms of individual as well as collective action to benefit the largest number of people who form part of that collective. Not an easy task. For example, how would, then, self-interest be managed and checked –the interest of one individual or of one country in relation to the rest of the world? This is not a forced situation. On the contrary it seems to be a rather common scenario around the debates on global warming. We have seen that in the debates within the Kyoto Protocol self-interest tends to dominate most decisions.
Among the many collective organizations, it is important to note those that are on the international arena. They have world-based mandates and, in principle, they should be extremely effective in addressing a global problem like global warming. However, they are often far from being collective in their nature, policies and behaviours. It is well known that individual country interests dominate the debate and, thus, the behaviour of such organizations simply reflect the power of those countries, particularly the richest ones. When pollution levels are highly correlated with country wealth, then the situation becomes very difficult to manage from a collective point of view. One is to rely on the wisdom and enlightenment of those leaders in key positions of power and hope for the better. If the record of the past were any indication of organizational behaviour of the future, we would expect major chaos to be the norm of the future. This will be a chaos in which the issues of global warming will never be resolved. The latest meetings to address global warming are perfect examples. The same is happening in other areas critically linked to the reduction of pollution levels around the world.
For international organizations to become global, their staff must become global citizens, and their bylaws and policies should embody the collective interest. That is not very easy to do as internal and external interest keep these organizations very much sanitized and away from that collective interest. New forms of governance and effective management practices must be introduced, starting from a totally new criterion for the selection of their leaders. Wisdom and enlightenment must be part of the criteria. The world needs enlightened leaders. It needs enlightened organizations. We need corporate enlightenment as the path in institutional modernization.
Private business groups without any doubt are an essential group of actors who must be considered at both the international and local levels of decision making. Global warming is not just the affair of governments. The popular saying “think globally and act locally”, may only become a reality if, for example, multinational corporations mirror image it. If they do not, then, it is very difficult to see significant changes taking place for the better. It is within the great domain of private business that global warming will be curved down effectively.
The media also groups extremely important actors. These are actors with public messages that reach billions of people. We live in the world of communication. We are all linked to each other through alternative forms of media. Today, there is a giant media that controls most of the existing channels of communication: newspapers, radio, television, magazines, etc. The power of the media is essential in the battle over global warming. Media not only has the power and the means, but it also has the responsibility to act collectively. This is to say to act in favour of the collective interest and not just in the direction of individual interests.
There is no doubt that the other important actor is government. Traditionally the management of public goods (as presented in another chapter) and public bads has been enthroned to governments. It is often the case that people act based on their personal interest and, then, it expects that any bad created from that action would be addressed by a government. However, the records behind government actions in the realm of the collective are not that effective. This may reflect the lack of quality around government services, lack of well trained human resources, shortages of material means, inflexible forms of power structures, corruption, and much more. Governments are the king pin in the present system, although the foundations from which they have operated in the past is collapsing at a rapid speed. In particular, governments have been operating under the key principle of sovereignty. This is to say, under the principle that they are free to act within a given geographic boundary or delineated frontier.
However, globalization is creating a world without frontiers. In the case of environmental management, like global warming, the world indeed does not have frontiers. Pollution navigates everywhere and, thus, the destruction of the ozone layer is not exactly over the countries that pollute most. Also, we know that the major impacts are not happening within those frontiers. It is extremely visible to appreciate that the impacts of global warming around the world will not be necessarily in those countries that pollute the most. In a world without frontiers, government actors are weak and suffer from a major loss of sovereignty. This loss in sovereignty is particularly evident in the enactment and implementation of domestic policies. This is aggravated by the natural impact of international agreements.
When those who pollute do not bear the costs of that pollution then there is a major spatial and inter-temporal asymmetry among actors. This also results from the inadequacy of governments and the corresponding loss in human capacity to act both locally and globally. Thus, we recommend that governments be strengthened and find alternative forms of governance (new rules) to address global warming. Part of this governance includes international treaties, but they are only as good as the governments that sign those commitments. There are many international agreements that governments sign but do not implement.
Finally, it is immensely relevant to bring civil society in its several manifestations to the discussion of actors. This is a very diverse grouping that includes unions, non-government organizations, local organizations, religious and spiritual organizations and the like. Each of them has a special set of objectives and goals as well as with a differentiated form of governance. Their effectiveness at the local and international level varies a great deal, not withstanding their contributions to advocacy, dialogues, meaningful participation and representation, and more. Civil society has played a fundamental role in the fight against global warming. However, they must improve their effectiveness and their integration with all other actors.
In the future, it is essential to recognize this matrix of actors. All actors are to participate in the solution(s). In collective challenges, it is important to know how to navigate through that complex matrix of actors. In this sense, it is important to create some sort of a Social Contract that is agreed upon among all these actors, so that global warming can truly be addressed in the shortest term as possible. We all have to participate in the creation and implementation of that contract. It must be part of a global consensus. This is a consensus that results from a very high level of collective consciousness.
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