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https://www.reuters.com/business/cop/democracies-that-fail-act-climate-change-face-existential-threat-2021-10-26/>
"LONDON, Oct 26 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Climate change poses "an
existential challenge" for democratic governments and could lead to more
authoritarian rule if efforts to curb global warming founder, fuelling a surge
in catastrophic impacts from hunger to heatwaves, researchers warned on
Tuesday.
Worsening disasters and the resulting societal upheaval could "be used as an
excuse for autocratic ... regimes to curtail democratic freedoms, as
experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic," warned a report from the nonprofit
International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA).
But democracies could take steps now to shore up their ability to deal with
climate change, from lowering the voting age and making it easier to file
class-action lawsuits to tackling disinformation and setting a carbon price, it
noted.
"This is the time to be bold, and experiment and rethink," said Kevin
Casas-Zamora, the Costa Rican secretary-general of International IDEA, a
Sweden-based intergovernmental organisation that works to strengthen democratic
institutions.
As threats from a heating planet grow, "we cannot simply do business as usual
with democracy", said the politician and lawyer."
Via Robert Sanscartier.
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
