Time for Pragmatism: Tackling Climate Change
January 17th, 2010 | Published in Thinking
Thursday 3rd December saw the weekly Thinking and Drinking host former Yorker Mal Chadwick for an enlightening discussion titled ‘Less Environmentalism; More Pragmatism’.
Mal questioned what kind of a public face climate change is developing and asked to what extent, and if would we like, to consider it a mainstream issue or not. Phrases such as ‘environmentally pigeonholed’ were banded around whilst the actions of pressure groups such as 10:10 were considered. The reasons for mass apathy, he said, in the UK are to be challenged, as climate change develops into an issue that should transcend political affiliations, class and age.
Using his experience at 10:10 (though not representing, he hastened to add!) Mal brought up issues including the accessibility of climate change in attempting to win voters, questioning the ethics of inviting far-right parties to become part of the debate or whether taboo companies such as arm traders should be allowed to display climate-friendly logos on their websites.
Debate was rife, and enjoyment high; a jolly good and productive time for all!
