ABSTRACT
Can anyone claim that they are unaware of environmental issues anymore? Surely we all know something about the hole in the ozone layer, oil tanker spills, deforestation of tropical rainforests, the building of roads and dams in environmentallysensitive areas, public anxiety about the safety of mass-produced foods, or growing concern about the impact of climate change. Again, we are familiar with images of environmental protest: Greenpeace anti-whaling actions on the high seas, antiroads activists bulldozer-diving, digging tunnels and building tree villages, protesters uprooting GMO trial crops, or standoffs between police and activists outside meetings of the World Trade Organisation and other global institutions. And finally, we are familiar with governments attempting to respond to these issues. An example of success is the securing of global agreements to ban CFCs to halt the destruction of the ozone layer; an example of failure is the well-publicised refusal of the United States to agree to binding reductions in carbon dioxide levels as a response to the processes of climate change.
