Not just hot air

Climate change and the challenge it poses to our society was the dominant theme of party conference season this year. This may appear a surprising statement to those whose perceptions of the conferences were shaped by the media coverage.

In our personality-driven age, it is probably inevitable that the newspaper, television and radio coverage focused remorselessly on the celebrities.

Would Ming Campbell be able to burnish his rather tarnished image, or Charlie Kennedy mount a comeback? How would Gordon Brown and Tony Blair appeal to a potentially fractious Labour conference and who would emerge the winner? And would Dave “hug-a-hoodie” Cameron triumph over the serried ranks of Tory hangers and floggers? Such are the ephemera that on the surface appear to represent the be-all and end-all of political comment.

But scratch the surface and a different picture emerges. Politics does not exist in a parallel universe immune from the pressures and influences of everyday life. However imperfectly it may appear to work at times, democracy does prompt politicians to wrestle with the key challenges that society faces. And there is no bigger one than climate change.

So at a time of growing public awareness and concern about the sustainability of our planet, it would be odd if those concerns were not prompting serious political analysis. And they certainly were.

But if there is growing attention to the issue, we are still some way from achieving a coherent response that both measures up to the scale of the challenge and is capable of securing majority public support. We still live in an era where people will recognise the need for action but cavil at specific solutions that affect their own lifestyle. Indeed, the range of approaches being put forward from different political perspectives is an indication of how hard it is to square some of these environmental circles.

The hair-shirt approach, predicated on the need for drastic reductions in the West’s current creature comforts, is one familiar strain, generally advocated by those who do not expect to be occupying the corridors of power.

The hair-shirt approach to climate change is generally advocated by those who do not expect to be occupying the corridors of power

Another is the pursuit of binding targets that will force politicians to make unpopular choices. This seems primarily motivated by a belief that politicians can never be trusted and must therefore be bound hand and foot to ensure that they cannot wriggle out of delivering on their pledges.

Both of these approaches reflect a deeply pessimistic view of human nature and the political process. But equally unsatisfactory is the over-optimistic tendency of those who are sure that scientists will come up with miracle solutions that will get us out of jail without pain or effort.

Between these poles, there is an obvious and logical middle way that recognises the need for change in lifestyles to reduce carbon emissions, but seeks to achieve this in ways that are more likely to secure public support, using technological advances wherever possible to ease the process.

This is territory that holds out huge opportunities for the construction industry, in all its facets, whether in the design of new buildings or settlements, the development of products that require less embodied energy in their manufacture or installation, or the improvement of processes to ensure less waste and more efficient lifetime operation.

Of course the government must set the right policy framework to encourage innovation and best practice. There are several ways in which this can be done, including financial incentives, regulatory requirements and leading by example.

The work currently being undertaken within the Office of Government Commerce to promote best practice in construction procurement is an important and interesting example. Accounting as it does for about 40% of all construction orders, the public sector has a huge role to play in promoting best practice as a client and truly exercising a substantial impact on outcomes for society.

As we know from bitter experience, the public sector has not in the past enjoyed the best track record in construction procurement. But with the stakes now higher than ever because of climate change, it is essential that the government does now rise to the challenge.