This last step is especially critical for the legitimacy and longevity of low-emission transitions. If not, then the cycle of care begins again, by acknowledging that the original problem is not adequately solved, or that new problems have sprung up. And fourth is care receiving, where the carer ensures that the other's needs are actually met. Third is care giving, where intention becomes action. Second is taking care by assuming responsibility to act. This should be a careful revolution, which is urgent without being reckless, bold without being cruel.Īmerican political scientist Joan Tronto and civil rights activist Berenice Fisher once defined care as 'everything we do to maintain, continue and repair our world so that we may live in it as well as possible'. Decision-makers can't afford to be careless about the consequences of climate action, nor uncaring towards people it affects. Still, we shouldn't overlook this duty in our response. Of course, the climate crisis is itself an appalling lapse in duty of care by decision-makers, and we all increasingly face the risks of this. To sustain public support over years and decades, care is essential. But we must also address the political question of how to bring people along with the low-emissions transition.

The technical question of how to mitigate emissions is flourishing.

The question of whether to face up to climate change is, thankfully, largely won. If large swathes of people revolt against efforts to mitigate emissions, we're hardly any better off than having not acted at all. But the next-worst thing is to provoke popular resistance to climate action. Worst of all, we could do nothing about our rising global emissions. Photo: ReutersOur response to climate change needs to be a just and careful revolution that limits pushback, writes David Hall.Īs a new sense of urgency to act on climate change rises - through calls for climate emergencies and green new deals - it is vital that we limit pushback while encouraging action.

The gilets jaunes protests in France last year were a spectacular example of when a rising carbon tax was the catalyst for a serious political crisis.

A Careful Revolution by David Hall