Andrew McCann presents: What kind of boat are we all in together anyway? Climate Change, Rising Authoritarianism & Evolution of Global Democracy"

With climate change accelerating and ecological systems under pressure, we face compounding collective action problems: intensifying droughts, inundations, extinctions, scarcities, mass migrations, xenophobia and conflict. These convergent crises cannot be addressed by any community or nation state alone – lifeboat politics are futile. Humanity, amid all its diversity, is all in the same boat. Global co-operation is a must, yet democratic infrastructure is thin and threatened internationally and domestically by a rising wave of authoritarianism on all continents, including our own. What are the options for the evolution of global democracy and environmental governance in this political and economic context? This talk will unpack the political perspectives and pragmatic opportunities for the evolution of democracy from local to global scales, while acknowledging the need for co-operation and the tensions between competing interests and strategies.