So…. we have a leader of the Labour party who undoubtedly ‘gets’ climate change, as a result of which, I may stay in the Labour party. I only joined so I could vote, figuring that as long as I live in a safe Tory seat, this is one of the few elections in which my vote might actually count for something, small though it is (how many of D Miliband’s supporters wish they had pushed for OMOV in the past few years? It has to come, but perhaps not yet)
Anyway, that apart, Climate Change blog has an amazing report of a speech given by none other than arch-Friedmanite, William Hague. I may not agree with much the current government is doing, but he’s at least making the right noises in this direction. Whether he can pull his warming-denialist party with him and actually do something, is another question altogether. We wait and see, but meanwhile, read the excerpt below and here for the full version.
Today I want to talk about why I believe we, as foreign policy practitioners, need to up our game in building a credible and effective response to climate change. Climate change is perhaps the twenty-first century’s biggest foreign policy challenge along with such challenges as preventing the spread of nuclear weapons. A world which is failing to respond to climate change is one in which the values embodied in the UN will not be met. It is a world in which competition and conflict will win over collaboration.
We are at a crucial point in the global debate on climate change. Many are questioning, in the wake of Copenhagen, whether we should continue to seek a response to climate change through the UN and whether we can ever hope to deal with this enormous challenge.
I will first argue that an effective response to climate change underpins our security and prosperity. Second, our response should be to strive for a binding global deal, whatever the setbacks. And third, I will set out why effective deployment of foreign policy assets is crucial to mobilising the political will needed if we are to shape an effective response.
Ban Ki-moon is right to have made climate change his top priority. Two weeks ago I talked of Britain’s values in a networked world. I said then that a successful response to climate change must be a central objective of British foreign policy. I said this not only because I believe action against climate change is in line with a values-based foreign policy, but because it underpins our prosperity and security.
