> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.opendemocracy.net/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # The politics of climate change: a debate guide - URL: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/2590jsp/ - Published: 2005-06-08T23:06:00.000Z - Updated: 2019-02-14T22:50:58.000Z - Author: Caspar Henderson - Tags: #en, #Migrated, #Import 2026-04-09 19:17 In the end, it was really no contest. On the one hand there were the seven academies of science from the world’s leading industrial powers plus those of Russia, India, China and Brazil – the full weight of world scientific opinion. They [said](http://www.royalsoc.ac.uk/?ref=opendemocracy.net) that “the scientific understanding of climate change is now sufficiently clear to justify nations taking prompt action”. On the other hand there was [White House staffer](http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/06/20050608-2.html?ref=opendemocracy.net#d) Philip Cooney, a lawyer with a bachelor’s degree in economics but no scientific training. He [altered documents](http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/08/politics/08climate.html?incamp=article%5Fpopular%5F2&pagewanted=print&ref=opendemocracy.net) from senior United States government science advisors to produce an air of doubt about findings that are scientifically robust. But the staffer, a former employee of the American Petroleum Institute, had the ear of the most powerful man in the world, [George W Bush](http://www.famoustexans.com/georgewbush.htm?ref=opendemocracy.net). And the president, while voicing general expressions of concern, was [not](http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/06/20050607-2.html?ref=opendemocracy.net) about to commit the US to specific actions to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases. **Groundhog day** We have been here before. In some ways, the debate has advanced little since 1989 when British prime minister Margaret Thatcher and Soviet premier Mikhail Gorbachev said that climate change posed a massive and serious threat to humanity. The world agreed a Framework Convention on Climate Change ([UNFCC](http://unfccc.int/?ref=opendemocracy.net)) and pledged to take action to avoid dangerous global warming. Meanwhile, emissions of greenhouse gases continued to skyrocket. But the game is not over. The [science of climate change](http://www.realclimate.org/?ref=opendemocracy.net) has progressed hugely. Energy technology [options](http://www.oilendgame.com/?ref=opendemocracy.net) have come on apace. Political and citizens’ groups have multiplied and increased in strength and organisation. Meanwhile, the major [oil and gas companies](http://www.westminsterbookshop.co.uk/shop/product.php/4191/0/?ref=opendemocracy.net) have continued to show the highest return on capital of any industrial sector, at some 12% on average (in 2001 [ExxonMobil](http://www.guardian.co.uk/climatechange/story/0,12374,1501646,00.html?ref=opendemocracy.net) made a 17.8% return on capital). It may look like we are going round in circles, but look a little closer and the situation is three-, not two-dimensional – more like a [helix](http://images.google.co.uk/images?q=helix&hl=en&btnG=Search+Images&ref=opendemocracy.net) than a circle. So how do we tell if we are sliding up or down? **A way in** **openDemocracy’s** [debate on the politics of climate change](https://www.opendemocracy.net/climate%5Fchange) is a good place to start. It comprises around fifty newly-commissioned articles by leading scientists, writers and others. Together they address six major aspects of climate change: - science and uncertainty (e.g. [John Sterman & Linda Booth Sweeney](https://www.opendemocracy.net/articles/View.jsp?id=2455), [David King](https://www.opendemocracy.net/articles/View.jsp?id=2488) and [Dave Frame](https://www.opendemocracy.net/articles/View.jsp?id=2530)) - the rights and wrongs of Kyoto and what may come after it (e.g. [Aubrey Meyer](https://www.opendemocracy.net/articles/View.jsp?id=2462), [Michael Grubb](https://www.opendemocracy.net/articles/View.jsp?id=2517) and [Benito Müller](https://www.opendemocracy.net/articles/View.jsp?id=2586)) - issues of global justice and development (e.g. [Camilla Toulmin](https://www.opendemocracy.net/articles/View.jsp?id=2513), [Mayer Hillman](https://www.opendemocracy.net/articles/View.jsp?id=2460) and [activists from China, India and Brazil](https://www.opendemocracy.net/articles/View.jsp?id=2520)) - technical and policy challenges (e.g. [Timothy E Wirth](https://www.opendemocracy.net/articles/View.jsp?id=2547), [Michael Davies & Antony Froggatt](https://www.opendemocracy.net/articles/View.jsp?id=2578) and [Jan Willem Storm van Leeuwen](https://www.opendemocracy.net/articles/View.jsp?id=2587)) - arts and imagination (e.g. [Bill McKibben](https://www.opendemocracy.net/articles/View.jsp?id=2447), [Mark O’Connor](https://www.opendemocracy.net/articles/View.jsp?id=2457) and [Jon Miller](https://www.opendemocracy.net/articles/View.jsp?id=2533)) - creating more environmentally friendly cities (e.g. [Bill Dunster](https://www.opendemocracy.net/articles/View.jsp?id=2470), [Dan Damon](https://www.opendemocracy.net/articles/View.jsp?id=2495) and [Ijaz Hossain & Saleemul Huq](https://www.opendemocracy.net/articles/View.jsp?id=2499)) And the debate featured a lively [forum](https://www.opendemocracy.net/forums/forum.jspa?forumID=179) with over 300 posts so far by **openDemocracy** members, and a [blog](https://www.opendemocracy.net/blogs/page/climateChange/) which probes the unfolding argument in the debate, and offers another easy way in. **Top tips** For a speed-read of some of the best of this debate, go to the [overview page](https://www.opendemocracy.net/climate%5Fchange) or dive into this quick eight: - Ian McEwan’s [introduction](https://www.opendemocracy.net/articles/View.jsp?id=2439) - [John Whitelegg](https://www.opendemocracy.net/articles/View.jsp?id=2454) on the global transport challenge - [Jim DiPeso](https://www.opendemocracy.net/articles/View.jsp?id=2468) on how America faces reality (slowly) - [David Buckland, Max Eastley & Caspar Henderson](https://www.opendemocracy.net/articles/View.jsp?id=2483) on Arctic dreams - [British activists debate](https://www.opendemocracy.net/articles/View.jsp?id=2472) ( in two [parts](https://www.opendemocracy.net/articles/View.jsp?id=2476)) - [William Connolley and colleagues](https://www.opendemocracy.net/articles/View.jsp?id=2510) on climate change science - [Fred Pearce’s](https://www.opendemocracy.net/articles/View.jsp?id=2561) memo to the G8 - [Nick Robins’s](https://www.opendemocracy.net/articles/View.jsp?id=2570) twenty trillion dollar question. Already many tens of thousands of people across the world have read these and other articles, and perhaps used them to sharpen their minds for the journey ahead. The debate continues, not least in the work of the [British Council](http://www.britishcouncil.org/science-zerocarboncity.htm?ref=opendemocracy.net), which generously supported this **openDemocracy** endeavour and whose ZeroCarbonCity initiative – a two-year global campaign to raise awareness and stimulate debate around the challenges of climate change – continues. Join us! This article appears as part of **openDemocracy**‘s online debate on [the politics of climate change](http://www.opendemocracy.net/climate%5Fchange/index.jsp). The debate was developed in partnership with the British Council as part of their [ZeroCarbonCity](http://www.britishcouncil.org/science-climate-zcc.htm?ref=opendemocracy.net) initiative – a two year global campaign to raise awareness and stimulate debate around the challenges of climate change.