Is Green Great?: Balancing the Demands of Environmental Protection and Human Needs
As a participant in the 46th International Affairs Symposium at Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon, Oli Brown sought to answer this question.
The session was a debate format with two speakers taking opposing sides of an issue, giving a 20-minute presentation each and then continuing the discussion in a question-and-answer session. Oli Brown's opponent was Paul Driessen.
Driessen is a senior policy adviser for the Congress of Racial Equality. A climate change skeptic and critic of the theory and practice of sustainable development, he used his presentation to suggest that western environmentalists have become "eco-imperialists" blindly imposing their own environmental standards on the rest of the world. He argued that western-imposed ideas of environmental protection have been bad for development by inter alia: banning DDT and so undermining the fight against malaria; inhibiting the capacity of the developing world to utilize their own cheap sources of energy; blocking the extension of biotechnology and so undermining food security; using the precautionary principle to halt the spread of new technology; and encouraging the spread of organic farming incapable of producing enough food to feed the world.
This IISD Commentary is an adaptation of Brown's response to Driessen's remarks at the symposium, organized by students of the Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon.
You might also be interested in
What Drives Investment Policy-makers in Developing Countries to Use Tax Incentives?
The article explores the reasons behind the use of tax incentives in developing countries to attract investment, examining the pressures, challenges, and alternative strategies that exist.
What Is the NAP Assessment at COP 29, and Why Does It Matter?
At the 29th UN Climate Change Conference (COP 29) in Baku, countries will assess their progress in formulating and implementing their National Adaptation Plans. IISD’s adaptation experts Orville Grey and Jeffrey Qi explain what that means, and what’s at stake.
How to Track Adaptation Progress: Key questions for the UAE-Belém work programme at COP 29
UAE-Belem work program at COP 29: Emilie Beauchamp explains the complexity behind these talks and unpacks seven key questions that negotiating countries should address along the way.
COP 29 Must Deliver on Last Year’s Historic Energy Transition Pact
At COP 29 in Baku, countries must build on what was achieved at COP 28 and clarify what tripling renewables and transitioning away from fossil fuels means in practice.