New Technologies Will Not Solve Everything

Today I attended a small seminar in which the leading politicians of my country, including the prime minister, explained their views on climate change. The message was clear: climate change is a lot more serious issue than the ongoing economic crisis, and solving it demands heavy political measures as well as continuous individual effort.

Unfortunately, politicians did not have much to say about the actual means to tackle the issue. Of course they discussed green taxation, energy saving and consumption choices, but at the same time admitted that those are only partial solutions. There existed a consensus that if we are to reach the goals we have set for ourselves (such as cutting carbon emissions by 80 per cent by 2050), it can only happen with the help of new technologies.

If there is one thing that politicians trust, it is new technology! No one really knows what this new technology is (otherwise it would not be new), but there is a steadfast trust that it will somehow save our lives. Now, I do not want to oppose research and development in any way, and I recognize the vital role of technology in our culture, but it just seems to me that some politicians are trying to avoid their responsibility to make difficult decisions by assuming that technology will solve our problems for us.

It is clear that we need a Green New Deal. The current economic crisis provides us a possibility to transform our consumption and production patterns. The transformation must happen sooner or later, so why not now when we are rethinking our economic system anyway? New technology may surely help us to solve some problems, but it will not free us from our responsibility to shape our lives into more sustainable ones.