By Ben Caldecott, Head of Policy Exchange's Energy & Environment Unit
When confronted with a challenging international decision post-war British Prime Ministers will undoubtedly ask themselves, “What would Churchill have done?”. Given the environmental challenges we face, ranging from climate change to biodiversity loss, and the coordinated international responses needed to tackle many of these issues, perhaps it’s not unreasonable to ask the same question. What might a Churchillian response to these dramatic problems look like and could it be a doctrine relevant for today’s politicians?
For a start, given
Churchill’s internationalist outlook he would have favoured coordinated multilateral
action, with the UK and European Union taking a central role. He would also have
expected the United States to join the fight at some stage, after all, “The Americans will always do the right thing...after
they've exhausted all the alternatives”.
As an economic liberal, he would have seen the benefits of new environmental markets driving emissions reductions through innovation and the deployment of low carbon technologies. He would have been in favour of the state creating an enabling framework for businesses and individuals to make the right choices for the environment. But, he would baulk at the idea, possessed by a surprisingly large number of green activists, that a “benign dictatorship” and direct state control of the economy is the solution.
As Churchill mobilised communities throughout the country for the war effort, he may also have recognised the importance of individual and community responses to addressing environmental problems. We can all do our bit for the cause, whether it’s recycling the right things, improving energy efficiency or buying climate bonds to fund the infrastructure needed to deliver a sustainable future.
Churchill would also have realised the enlightened self-interest of Britain taking the lead in tackling climate change – something constantly mooted, but never actually delivered by the current Government. He would have encouraged British industry to develop world leading expertise in technologies such as Carbon Capture & Storage, so we could market and sell our services throughout the world.
Although we’ll never know what Churchill would have done about the environmental challenges we face, we know for certain that he would have had faith in the ability of the British people to overcome them and mobilise others do so. Let’s hope this current batch of British politicians live up to his legacy and become Churchillian environmentalists.
