Climate change is a process revolutionising contemporary plans and strategies and, above all, the thinking and actions of economic actors, institutions, organisations, and states. It is becoming a reference point for evaluating the viability of projects and the effectiveness of the technologies used, as well as for assessing upcoming legislation.
Climate change provokes a discussion not just about the causes but, first and foremost, about the conditions under which economic and social development should take place, and about the aspects and forms in which transitions should be designed so that their effects can be seen at present and have a real impact on the future.
Over the past six decades, humankind has experienced an evolution in thinking about the role and significance of climate change. Diagnoses – formulated as a result of first observations and then research – provided an incentive to identify potential risks. However, this was only the beginning of the transition; the next stage saw the emergence of international organisations and a group of countries, leaders in socio-economic development, who started to set targets for reducing the negative impact of human activity on the environment. The next decades brought cost analyses of approaching the resource barrier, overexploitation, and misallocation. Finally, there came a growing awareness that the problem was global and only with the involvement of all, and certainly no less than the majority, could plans be made to reduce the harmful effects of human activity all around us. The identification of risks and likely scenarios made it clear that transformations were inevitable, in addition to revealing the scale and scope of industrial and post-industrial human activity on Earth.
In fact, climate change is a consequence of global warming, whose causes include the increasing consumption of fossil fuels, deforestation, intensive industrialisation, the high dynamics of agricultural volumes and the shift to intensive forms of agricultural production, the reallocation of industrial production, the intensification of transport, and above all, the maintenance of a high rate of population growth. Demographic growth and changes in the patterns of consumption of goods and services have provided the impetus for socio-economic development in recent decades. Demand has been forcing changes in production methods, resulting in unprecedented intensity and triggering rivalries in competition for the volume and cost of electricity, food, industrial products, and types of services provided. At the same time, demand has been laying the foundations for a new world order where the hitherto most developed countries have given way to ambitious emerging economies, setting expectations and charting development plans for those that follow. Due to the ongoing rivalry, there are conflicts over resources and wars over competitive advantages. But this is only one dimension where stakeholders express their expectations.
The second dimension is the behaviour of consumers, whose needs for the availability of goods and services are constantly increasing. And the reason for that lies not only in population growth but also in wealth increase, which makes it possible to reach for goods previously unavailable, increases aspiration levels, triggers migration flows, and intensifies mobility. It is difficult to expect self-restraint in consumption in the least developed countries experiencing or expecting convergence. This catch-up development creates space for a few more decades of meeting basic and higher-order needs. At the same time, people in highly economically developed countries are experiencing the democratisation of society, and the increased awareness of and responsibility for their choices of goods and services. The popularity of environmentalism, the fashion for minimalism, and the reduction of consumption are changing behaviours and influencing the attitudes of producers and service providers. The importance of quality rather than quantity is being emphasised.
Consequently, we observe the interpenetration of these two dimensions, different behaviours and expectations, and growing tensions. Meanwhile, the world is inexorably heading towards a further temperature increase of 0.2°C every 10 years. Increasing levels of air pollution are being recorded, posing a number of risks, with the most frequently cited being: a higher likelihood of extreme weather events (droughts, floods), the threat of coral reef extinction, the reduction of Greenland ice, and rising sea levels. The costs of climate change are not only about preventing adverse environmental impacts but also about triggering economic mechanisms to counteract rising food prices and mitigate food deficits. However, most importantly, they are about taking action to change the techniques and technologies of agricultural and industrial production, as well as transport service provision, with a view to changing the sources of energy carriers and reducing emissions. Initiatives also aim at sparking changes in consumer behaviour and raising awareness of the conditions in which goods are produced and the consequences of specific choices, for example, with regard to means of transport or vehicle propulsion sources.
In order for the measures to achieve the intended results, it is necessary to continuously raise public awareness, which should be achieved through relevant teaching implemented at all levels of education.
Being part of the CIVICA Consortium, the SGH Warsaw School of Economics feels a great responsibility for the educational aspect of the climate change impacts on the economic and social environment; hence the initiative to prepare a programme “Sustainable Business and Finance” for the first-cycle studies and a postgraduate programme “Inter-University Climate Academy.”
The latter is an idea that aims to foster new attitudes among both entrepreneurs and representatives of local and regional authorities and all those responsible in local governments for the implementation of social policy and infrastructural projects, as well as for the natural environment. Together with our partner universities, AGH University of Krakow and the University of Wrocław, which represent different scientific disciplines, we have prepared a programme that covers the causes of progressive climate change, the possibilities of climate change mitigation, the impact of climate change on the environment and the functioning of societies, economies, local government units, organisations and businesses, as well as existing and planned climate change regulations at regional, national, and international levels.
The consortium of Universities offers support from the banking and business sectors so that students can acquire skills in obtaining funds for infrastructural projects, preparing development plans and strategies, and changing the conditions for their businesses. Classes are delivered by renowned specialists in law, finance and management; these specialists also provide consultations on dissertations, whose applicability is confirmed by interdisciplinarity and uniqueness in presenting solutions to specific economic, social, environmental, and technical problems.
We popularise attitudes that recognise the need to permanently incorporate the idea of combating climate change into one’s activities, and we do it not only among our University partners but also among our business partners.
We educate that only coherent and concerted actions can bring results under time pressure and intensification of the negative aspects of change.
Understanding the vertical and horizontal interdependencies between environmental, social, technical, and economic considerations is a necessity and a condition for any responsible actor to implement their strategy.
Vice Rector for Development dr hab. Dorota Niedziółka, prof. SGH.
