Society needs to be re-organized to remain within the planetary boundaries, to avoid a global collapse. This means fossil fuels have to be phased out rapidly. A tax on carbon dioxide, increasing yearly, is probably the best way to do this. Read more on the Citizens Climate Lobby website. If introduced, this will be the end for certain industries – those in fossil energy to begin with. Large fossil energy use often coincides with environmental destruction, for instance in mining which is subsidized significantly in Sweden. The timber-, paper-, and pulp industry is a large resource hog too; in Sweden it uses more than 20% of all energy.
A list for politicians:
- Introduce a yearly increasing carbon tax in Europe to reduce emissions, including on imported products. Bioenergy should be included, and air and sea based travel should not be exempt as they are today. Alternatively, use emission trading for all sectors of the economy and phase out emission allowances not covered by sequestration.
- Phase out all subsidies to industries involved in environmental destruction.
- Increase reuse and recycling (recycling of metals is systematically discouraged in Sweden).
- Reduce energy use in general, for instance by insulating buildings and improving the standards for new buildings so that they become energy-neutral or even positive.
- Recreate large connected nature areas to safeguard biodiversity and increase resilience against the impact of climate change.
- Stand up for women’s rights all over the world, including access to contraceptives and family planning, to reduce the increase of population that contributes to large pressure on ecosystems.
- In Sweden: take measures to reach the Swedish Environmental Goals by 2020 as decided by Parliament.
Read more under What Should the Timber Industry Do?