“LONDON, Oct 26 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Climate change
poses "an existential challenge" for democratic governments and
could lead to more authoritarian rule if eforts to curb global warming
founder, fuelling a surge in catastrophic impacts from hunger to
heatwaves, researchers warned on Tuesday.
Worsening disasters and the resulting societal upheaval could "be
used as an excuse for autocratic ... regimes to curtail democratic
freedoms, as experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic," warned a
report from the nonproft International Institute for Democracy and
Electoral Assistance (IDEA).
But democracies could take steps now to shore up their ability to deal
with climate change, from lowering the voting age and making it
easier to fle class-action lawsuits to tackling disinformation and
setting a carbon price, it noted.
LEAVING NO-ONE BEHIND:
POLITICAL PARTIES AND THE SDGS
“WHAT ROLE FOR POLITICAL PARTIES IN THE
SDGS?”
Political parties are a critical component of modern democracies
worldwide. They play a pivotal role in ensuring that citizens are
empowered and that inclusion and equality are upheld. Political
parties act as a bridge between society and political decision-makers.
They help aggregate social demands and convert them into political
decisions.
Political parties are essential to achieving the Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs). They help guide the actions of
government institutions and civil society organizations towards
establishing efective measures to overcome structural inequality. It is
this inequality that often acts as a barrier to making more signifcant
progress towards the SDGs.
In summary, political parties serve as a critical link in the democratic
process. They help ensure that the voices of the people are heard, and
that policies and decisions refect the needs and desires of society.
They are instrumental in achieving the SDGs and creating a more equal
and just world for all.
DEMOCRACIES THAT FAIL TO ACT
ON CLIMATE CHANGE FACE
'EXISTENTIAL' THREAT
policymaking and the capacity for institutional learning helps address
complex issues with long-term and global social and political
implications.
In summary, while climate change poses signifcant challenges to
democratic governance, democracy can play a crucial role in
formulating efective responses to climate change. Through
representative parliaments, civic participation, independent media,
and civil society engagement in policymaking, democracies can
overcome these challenges and work together to mitigate the efects
of climate change for a sustainable future.