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The rise of environmental politics: How deep is the relationship between humans and the natural world?
As global environmental problems become increasingly serious, the topic of environmental politics has also emerged. This covers not only political issues concerning the environment, but also academic research focused on environment-related issues. According to Neil Carter's book Environmental Politics, the core components of environmental politics include the study of political theory, the examination of the environmental positions of major political parties and environmental social movements, and the analysis of public policies that affect the environment at different geopolitical levels. Environmental politics is fundamentally concerned with the relationship between human society and the natural world, and has its own unique ideology and political movements.
Modern environmentalism is a mass movement of politics and action demanding a radical transformation of social values and structures.
As industrialization progressed, environmental issues gradually became a priority for society, especially after World War II. At that time, clean air and water became issues of concern to a new generation of Americans. This trend gradually expanded to the international level with the "Prawn Project" in the 1960s and the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm, Sweden in 1972.
Furthermore, the role of democracy in advancing environmental policy, especially climate policy, is not static. Although in theory democratic processes can promote meaningful reforms, in practice they have shown different environmental progress in different democratic governments. Depending on the presence of public support, democratic systems can provide policymakers with greater incentives to consider the public interest as a whole, especially in the face of climate change.
Political responses in democratic governments can cover the consequences of climate change for most, or even all, of their constituents.
However, for some democratic countries, economic interests and political realities often present them with numerous obstacles. On the one hand, opposition to environmental reforms by business groups and various economic interest groups makes it difficult for legislators to go all out when facing environmental issues; on the other hand, in developing democratic countries, environmental reforms are often placed on a more urgent under social issues such as poverty and infrastructure development.
In addition, there is a gap in the democratic decision-making process regarding environmental justice issues. In many cases, minorities and marginalized groups are denied meaningful political representation, and they are often the groups most affected by climate change. This inequality is particularly evident at the global level: the countries that contribute most to climate change are often the ones that have historically caused the most carbon emissions.
Environmental movements around the world are calling for a rethinking of the political system and an examination of the relationship between environmental protection and economic development. This has also sparked a deep discussion about whether the democratic system is effective enough. When people view economic growth and environmental protection as contradictory, will democracy become an obstacle to advancing environmental policies?
In this dilemma, many scholars have proposed adopting a more inclusive form of democracy, such as grassroots democracy. Such a political system places ordinary citizens at the center of decision-making and reduces the influence of large organizations and wealthy individuals in the policy-making process. This will undoubtedly inject new possibilities into future environmental policies.
In many countries, legislation and improvements on environmental issues are out of step with public opinion, especially when voters' limited attention is often focused on more immediate economic and policy issues.
Regarding global environmental issues, especially rapidly industrializing countries such as Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC countries), their exploration of finding a balance between economic growth and environmental damage is still ongoing. The health problems caused by environmental degradation and the damage to natural resources caused by pollution often stimulate environmental protection actions in these countries more directly.
However, as the income levels of these countries gradually increase, the trend of environmental degradation has also improved. In fact, this phenomenon is confirmed in the theory of the "Environmental Kuznets Curve": as people's income gradually increases, they will begin to demand better air and water quality, thus ending the past pattern of environmental destruction.
Faced with the increasing severity of climate change, new environmental awareness is also spreading around the world. More countries are beginning to commit themselves to the development and innovation of environmental technologies. Whether from a policy or economic perspective, all this reflects people's deep concern for the future. As humanity’s awareness of the impact on the environment grows, what we need to think about in the face of future challenges is how to find a better balance between environmental protection and development?
