Global Guardians

Abstract

Popular notions of industrialisation and development are no longer viable and a growing global population cannot achieve affluent lifestyles configured upon Western images of progress (World Wildlife Fund, 2012, p. 6; Corson, 1994, pp. 206–207). Such aspirations inevitably collide with issues arising from global climate change and their political and economic implications. Across the world, governments, their citizens, international organisations, economic and social actors confront political challenges in resetting the ideas, values and practices that sustain their well-being. Cooperative international problem sharing will rely upon popularising new core values to ensure effective environmental management and sustainability. Whether or not human activities are drivers or mere contributing components of increased storms, redistributions in water and changed climatic patterns has become irrelevant. Also irrelevant are debates concerning potential rates and distributions of climate change impacts or arguments concerning the relative merits of various projection models. The world’s ecosystems cannot absorb the impending resource demands of the currently expanding population: these physical limitations would have required major changes in industrial practices regardless of observed changes in climate.