Climate change: Beyond the "consensus"

Climate change: Beyond the "consensus"

1.30pm - 5:30pm
Thursday 23rd May 2024
Ace Events, Av. d'Auderghem 22, 1040 Bruxelles, Belgium

We often hear that there is a scientific consensus on climate change. Yet the science is only half the discussion. Whatever the science says, we have to answer a political question too: what should we do

Proponents of environmentalist responses often present the policy choices as if they are simply dictated by the science. But this hides a whole range of political choices. Should we prioritise standards of living, or reducing emissions? Should we try and change behaviour, or change technology? Should we seek clean energy wherever we can find it, like with nuclear power, or is the problem that we consume too much to begin with? How should we weigh up the different opportunities for adaptation versus mitigation and where to invest resources?

On such questions, there is no consensus, and we cannot assume that science will answer them for us. These are questions for public debate – but too often the public is shut out of the debate about our future.

European elites have their preferred answer – Net Zero, the Green Deal, an end to petrol cars, and the war on farming and traditional industry. But what is or should be the answer of the European public

This conference brings together a range of perspectives on these issues, on the assumption that genuine debate is needed to help us chart the way forward.

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