A question has come to me from a test paper in the A-level for 21st century ethics. Read the following statement and explain what is wrong with it: ‘It’s important that we take climate issues seriously. Whether or not individuals accept the current scientific consensus on the causes of climate change, it is sensible for everyone to use finite resources in a responsible way.’
The correct answer, it turns out, is that the statement allows for the possibility that failing to accept the scientific consensus on climate change is somehow a legitimate position for an individual to hold, when of course it is not. The person making the statement should have made it clear that everyone must accept scientific consensus on climate change as well as use resources wisely – not be allowed to opt out of one of these essential duties as human beings.
That, at any rate, appears to be the view of Barry Gardiner, the international trade secretary and Wera Hobhouse, who goes about with the title of the Liberal Democrats’ climate change spokeswoman.
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