11
GREEN TRANSFORMATION
Is there a fast track?
Hubert Schmitz
Introduction
The green transformation is different from previous transformations in one critical
respect: urgency. This is the first transformation in history to be achieved against
a deadline. Hence the question in the title: is there a fast track? This chapter seeks
answers by addressing five subquestions: what, why, how, who and when?
1
The following section asks what the problem is. Then follows the question why
this problem needs urgent attention and a reflection on how robust the call for
urgent action is. How transformations occur, who can be expected to drive the
transformation forward and when the green transformation is most likely to occur
are the questions asked in the sections that follow. The concluding section returns
to the overall question posed in the title of this chapter. Since this is the final chapter
of the book, it also draws together elements of preceding chapters.
What?
The green agenda encompasses many issues. If asked what the most fundamental
problem is, most scientists studying our planet would probably say ‘climate change’.
‘Each of the last three decades has been successively warmer at the Earth’s surface
than any preceding decade since 1850’ (IPCC, 2013, p3). A continuation of this
trend would make human life very difficult in many parts of our planet. This is
the first part of the climate and earth scientists’ message. The second part is that
humans have brought about the problem, by increasing carbon emissions. ‘It is
extremely likely that human influence has been the dominant cause of the observed
warming since the mid-20th century’ (IPCC, 2013, p12). ‘Extremely likely’ means
that these scientists are ‘95–100 per cent’ certain (ibid., p2).
However, both parts of the message remain contested. One of the leading climate
scientists, Mike Hulme, has provided an in-depth analysis of the reasons ‘Why we
DOI: 10.4324/9781315747378-11
GREEN TRANSFORMATION
Is there a fast track?
Hubert Schmitz
Introduction
The green transformation is different from previous transformations in one critical
respect: urgency. This is the first transformation in history to be achieved against
a deadline. Hence the question in the title: is there a fast track? This chapter seeks
answers by addressing five subquestions: what, why, how, who and when?
1
The following section asks what the problem is. Then follows the question why
this problem needs urgent attention and a reflection on how robust the call for
urgent action is. How transformations occur, who can be expected to drive the
transformation forward and when the green transformation is most likely to occur
are the questions asked in the sections that follow. The concluding section returns
to the overall question posed in the title of this chapter. Since this is the final chapter
of the book, it also draws together elements of preceding chapters.
What?
The green agenda encompasses many issues. If asked what the most fundamental
problem is, most scientists studying our planet would probably say ‘climate change’.
‘Each of the last three decades has been successively warmer at the Earth’s surface
than any preceding decade since 1850’ (IPCC, 2013, p3). A continuation of this
trend would make human life very difficult in many parts of our planet. This is
the first part of the climate and earth scientists’ message. The second part is that
humans have brought about the problem, by increasing carbon emissions. ‘It is
extremely likely that human influence has been the dominant cause of the observed
warming since the mid-20th century’ (IPCC, 2013, p12). ‘Extremely likely’ means
that these scientists are ‘95–100 per cent’ certain (ibid., p2).
However, both parts of the message remain contested. One of the leading climate
scientists, Mike Hulme, has provided an in-depth analysis of the reasons ‘Why we
DOI: 10.4324/9781315747378-11