According to a recent article in the Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter, the citizens of the world want a climate treaty, which is very interesting since the citizens have actually participated in this consultation.
Back in september, 4000 people from 38 different countries participated in a citizen consultation connected to the climate meeting in Copenhagen. The citizens were chosen with particular interest in order to reflect different geopolitical areas as well as sociocultural backgrounds. Economic factors were also considered in the consultation.
The Swedish citizen consultation took place in a town called Borlänge and the consultation was conducted at the same time throughout all the 38 different countries. The results from the consultations were then published in real time and lead to the report ”World Wide Views on Global Warming” which you can find at World Wide Views on Global Warming.
The consultation was concluded with a sort of excerise where the participants formulated recommendations to the negotiators in Copenhagen. Some of the comments read: “Be brave!”, “Take far reaching and binding actions now” and “Release resources for development of climate smart technology”.
One positive thing with this consultation is that it touches upon the posibility of a future vox populi, i.e. that the citizens of the world – to some extent – will be able to discuss big matters that have more far reaching consequences for the world than the local and national surroundings. The internet will be one possible way to connect people with each other in order to discuss alternatives and different environmental outlooks.
If we are going to implement regulations or take measures to combat global warming, then we have to connect citizens wich each other. Only then will we know how far we can go without rendering some to suffer and some to accept global measures. I do not know whether or not global regulations is the way to go, because these would have to be upheld somehow, and we have seen that larger countries will escape the responsibilities of these treaties if they can. However, if citizens raise their voices there will be a whole other dynamic connected with the future implementation of climate policies and treaties.
Another great thing with the internet is that people can look into these treaties and by examining data, and check whether or not countries and companies are carrying out what needs to be done as well as checking whether or not they are following policies and regulations. Flexible climate policies and treaties will have to seek out citizens who want to contribute to the ongoing evaluation of these treaties and invite them to scrutinize the data which is accumulated.
Do you want a global climate treaty? Please take time to answer and to formulate ideas and thoughts in the comments.
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