by Cheryl Gallagher

Clare Short at Greencoat Forum (Photo: John Leggat)Clare Short, Independent MP for Birmingham Ladywood, spoke of the need to profoundly transform society to tackle climate change and create a more just and sustainable world when she addressed a Greencoat Forum in the London centre of Initiatives of Change on 16 June. The forum was chaired by Geoffrey Lean, Contributing Editor (Environment) for the Daily Telegraph.

Since her election to Parliament in 1983, Clare Short has been a vociferous campaigner for all aspects of social justice, particularly in her role as Secretary of State for International Development from 1997 to 2003. She has also been noted for her opposition to the Iraq war, over which she resigned from Government, and her criticism of disproportionate attacks in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The Ladywood MP spoke of her childhood as a baby-boomer in the 1960s and of the belief at the time that if you stood up for what was right and were optimistic, you could accomplish anything. But in recent years Short has had to adapt her thinking. ‘I have come to believe that if we go on as we are, we are facing a series of tipping points that will lead to mayhem, terrible conflict and suffering and a possible end to human civilization.’ Short’s powerful message was that it is not enough just to do a bit; the world needs a radical new way of thinking and civic action on an unprecedented scale.

Short saw population growth—estimated to soar by three billion in the next 20 years—as placing a massive strain on the world’s resources. ‘Fish stocks will be wiped out, food security will be threatened as agriculture fails and the next wars will be fought over water if we do not take action now.’ Short also spoke of humanitarian crises that the world would face and the potential danger of a fascistic response. ‘We currently have 20 million displaced people in the world; imagine how we would respond if that number reached hundreds of millions. European politics has moved to the right and there is a real danger that catastophes of this kind could lead to an ugly response.’

In a measure of how unequal and divided the world is becoming, Short said that 90 per cent of future births are expected to be in the world’s poorest countries. Inequality needs to be tackled by implementing a level international tax system to eliminate tax havens and stop international corporations taking advantage of poorer countries by not paying enough tax and disregarding employment rights.

(Photo: John Leggat)She lamented that policy makers and activists working for social justice have been divided into disparate groupings such as development, climate change and human rights at a time when these sectors are inextricably linked. She highlighted the need to look at the bigger picture to tackle the causes and effects of climate change from an integrated perspective. We need to get out of our silos, she said.

‘If society is to have a chance to avert disaster on a massive scale,’ Short warned, ‘people need to show their anger and displeasure with policies that exacerbate the problem.’ She called for a new economic order based on renewable energy, recycling and diversified transport systems. She also believed that electoral reform in the UK is essential to open up politics and offer voters a real alternative to the two main parties that dominate politics.

Short warned that developed countries must stop behaving as if they were invincible: ‘Previous civilisations have died out. We need to change our decadent, destructive, throw-away culture and learn humility if we are to survive as a species.’ She also remarked that despite the immense wealth concentrated in the West, people are lonely, unhappy and isolated. ‘We have increasing problems of mental illness, obesity, drink and drug addiction, and the degradation of sexual love amidst our stupendous material wealth that would completely astonish our grandparents.’

Developed nations must take stock of what is happening before it is too late. ‘We need to ensure that we all have the basic material things that we need, and the access to education and healthcare and then we can seek life’s happiness in nature, poetry, spirituality, love and community rather than the constant acquisition of more and more material goods.’

You can view clips of this forum on YouTube: