TAKING STOCK

Somewhere along the way, like a train that meets a forking of tracks, the decision is made to take one route over another. A simple shift in the direction of the track points and the train will take the left fork resulting in a destination many miles away from the other. One little decision can lead to a completely different route being taken – and a different end-point. The decision may seem insignificant at the time, but the small and almost imperceptible shift brings with it enormous ramifications. One train, two divergent routes. Two different outcomes.

One Planet, Two Divergent Approaches.

View the planet as an inert thing and a monetary value can be imposed. In one fell swoop the planet becomes a commodity. The planet becomes property to trade, an asset upon which a price has been imposed. As a consequence, (wo)man's dominion over land, his/her right to extract and diminish the capital of the planet as he/she wishes, guarantees the asphyxiation of life.

This approach has informed our environmental legislation almost exclusively since the 1970s. Permit allocation, soft industry requirements and inadequate enforcement provisions are the modus operandi. Businesses that damage the planet continue apace, hand-in-hand with ecological devastation – at a price. In real terms the price is far higher than the nominal pecuniary fines levied against those caught exceeding their allocated limits. By reducing the planet to a commodity and ensuring industry is legislatively cushioned, damaging business practice is legally protected. The value of life is of no consequence but value of profit is. In the UK, as in many other countries, the duty to act in the interests of profit above other interests is enshrined in law. Section 172 of the Companies Act 2006 is the legal duty to promote the success of the company. When exercising this duty the director is required to 'have regard' to various non-exhaustive list of 'factors' listed in s.172. To 'have regard' is a far lower legal standard to attain than to 'prioritise.' The difference is determinative: the former can be given the most cursory of considerations, whilst the latter demands a determination according to the importance of the factor. 'Success' is not defined in the Act. The Department of Trade and Industry's guidance to the Bill suggests that a success in relation to a commercial company is considered to be its "long-term increases in value". It is suggested by the DTI that a director will exercise the same level of care, skill and diligence as he carries out any other functions in deciding which 'factors' he will take into consideration when making a decision subject to his overall responsibility to the success of the company. The implication is that if a factor is deemed a conflict of interest, then it can be disregarded.

Current climate negotiations reinforce customary rights for business – the right to emit, the right to be inequitable, the freedom to destroy the planet. These are the cushions upon which industry sits; soft governance ensures profits remain secure. The Kyoto Protocol is a document that actively facilitates trading on these terms (permits to pollute, carbon trading mechanisms). Thus an international business has been created to address one symptom (the escalation of greenhouse gases) rather than the problem (the damage we are wreaking on the planet). Twelve years on from its instigation and we know that both the mechanism applied and the ascribed rights have comprehensively failed to stop damaging practices. Instead, we have enslaved the planet for our own ends.

The Industrial Revolution

Treating the planet as a commodity became firmly established as the norm in the Western World with the advent of the IndustrialRevolution. Rapid expansion of industry spread throughout the UK into Western Europe and North America, then onto much of the rest of the world. Agricultural based manual and animal labour shifted towards large-scale use of steam-powered machines, fuelled by abundant and cheap coal. The steam engine took over from the water wheel thereby enabling the powering of a wide range of manufacturing machinery. Commercial activity was no longer restricted to locations where water wheels or windmills could be used. Coal burning to heat water and create steam opened the door to new opportunities; coal could be transported and crucially could be used for transport. Burning coal created energy to power ships and railway locomotives. Increased mobility increased speed of transaction and trade activity. There was an explosion of activity; textile industries were mechanised and iron-making techniques developed exponentially assisted by the introduction of canals, improved roads and railways. Coal was the common denominator; it liberated the expansion of trade and transport.

'Canal mania' had grabbed the imagination of the nation in the mid-18th century. Transport had until now been a costly affair, not to mention dangerous. The upkeep of roads, horses, carriages and men as well as the turnpike toll payments made movement of heavy goods cumbersome and expensive. Proving to be an enormously effective means of transport, an innovative Duke decided to set up his own canal to link his mine to Manchester some 42 miles away. Suddenly every entrepreneur saw the potential for transforming the movement of goods.

It took very little to convince Parliament. Government stepped in and provided the necessary political support. Canal Acts and Navigation Acts were hastily written and implemented as each new canal was conceived. Outside of coal mining, it was the largest job-creation scheme of its time. Thousands of workers were employed, larger and greater canal trade routes were planned across the country, links were made to existing city rivers. Within an incredibly short period the geographical and economical landscape of Britain had changed dramatically. Brewers were no longer confined to selling their ales locally: a horse drawn barge loaded with barrels could be delivered into the heart of London within two days. The fragile porcelains of Joshia Wedgewood, free from the risk of being shattered as wheels clattered over unpaved rough roads, could now be floated serenely and safely downstream to arrive in one piece in the shops of all the major cities.

The public directly benefitted too. The reduction in transport costs resulted in the price of coal dropping dramatically which in turn facilitated the switch from wood as the predominant fuel (the forests of Britain were by now vastly depleted). Coal was the number one cargo for canals. The savings were astounding: one horse could haul up to 400 times as much as a single pack-horse. Coal was now...