Protecting the Public Interest in Times of Climate Change: From Abandoning Fossil Fuel to Sharing our Earth

“Fossil fuels are the biggest contributor to climate change, which, in turn, is the
key driver of all other environmental problems, such as changing hydrological
patterns, biodiversity loss, as well as air, water and soil pollution. All of this is
detrimental to human health and wellbeing. Scholars argue that a global temperature
increase of 1°C is the just objective and that the global system must accelerate
the phase-out of fossil fuels to prevent significant harm to people and irreversible
harm to Earth’s life-supporting systems.

This lecture will discuss the need for abandoning fossil fuel, why it’s not happening,
and how this can be countered by social movements and independent courts
providing access to climate justice. It then discusses the bigger picture of crossed
planetary boundaries. Research into ‘just boundaries’ shows we must accelerate
multilateralism, not retreat into nationalist rights to pollute. When resources are
scarce, three rational actor responses often emerge: neo-liberal capitalist, hegemonic
state-centered, and polycentric approaches. However, only a social practice
model building on multilateral goals and principles, institutionalised in a possible
global Constitution, could help us address our dire situation. Though seemingly
impossible today, in five years, the world may call for such a dream.”