What environmental legacy for our grandchildren?

Sir Dieter Helm is an Oxford economist specialising in climate change. Consequently, he has written a great many books about the climate crisis and also about Natural Capital – valuing what our planet provides us with to live on and with. He has been chair of the UK Natural Capital Committee and has given advice to many governments, regulators and companies about energy and climate. His new book ‘Legacy: how to build a sustainable economy’ is about what kind of environmental legacy our polluting generations are leaving for their grandchildren.

This book looks at the problems of energy and climate from a different perspective – from the point of view of our grandchildren. It is about how we can pass the world onto our grandchildren in the same condition, or better, than it is now. In the past I have heard farmers speak of passing their farmland onto their families in good shape – they think of themselves merely as custodians, rather than owners. However, from the days of PFI (private finance initiative) for hospital building, politicians have done their best to pass on as much financing as possible to the next generation. This is so they don’t have to raise taxes.

Sustainable economy

Helm is clear that the buck must stop with us. We must live within our means and leave the environment in the best possible condition. He suggests that we should move to a system he calls “The Sustainable Economy”. This doesn’t make any assumptions about the future aspirations and lives of our children, but deals with capital assets (such as the environment) which we should leave as good as we found it. He deals with several different sorts of capital assets and how to value and account for them. He is very sceptical about the current accounting systems and, in particular, the GDP measure.

There is a most important chapter about “the polluter pays” principle. There needs to be a carbon tax which doesn’t encourage rich countries to export their dirty industries to other countries and then claim that they have decarbonised and that their consumption is sustainable. In addition, exporting dirty industries still require dirty transport often moving between continents.

Way forward

The “Sustainable Economy” is a wonderful objective, but we are very very far from achieving anything near to it. Helm tells us what we need to do to get there, The present “business as usual” is not going to help. He tells us that we are going to need a new constitution which takes into account future generations and accounts for both natural capital and social capital. Basically citizens should not merely be consumers but also responsible for our pollution and not living beyond our means. This doesn’t mean a miserable life, but a life that will be much better for our children and grandchildren.