2013 | OriginalPaper | Chapter
Energy, Progress and Population
Published in: Climate Change and Order
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At this point in the 21st century, states are confronting changes in their physical environments and the conditions upon which their economies and systems of political and social organisation are based, and many are clinging to historically established aspirations, expectations and modes of behaviour. For these states, the changes that are occurring in the fertility and habitability of their land, their access to secure freshwater resources and energy supplies are unfolding alongside persistent hopes of prosperity. Their aspirations are sustained by enduring beliefs that modernisation and industrialisation are synonymous with progress, and corresponding fears that relinquishing such aspirations might threaten the well-being of existing societies and structures. For many, their abilities to enjoy long lives, access to secure food supplies and advanced medicines are linked with the overall economic prosperity attained through globalised production and economic markets in the 20th century. These achievements occurred through successive international arrangements and political structures that were premised upon energy consumption.