FRENCH and Icelandic economists have both called for the “rebel” characteristic of Scots to emerge to face the climate crisis and economy.
On a panel exploring the rate of resource consumption and the degradation of the natural environment, economist Timothee Parrique from Versailles, France urged people to “sabotage” projects that are not mindful of environment and utility.
In a separate discussion, former chairman of the supervisory board of the Icelandic Central Bank Jon Helgi Egilsson said “all the rebels in Scotland” must create new models for the economy and emerge against the status quo.
This followed climate activists lobbying outisde the venue of Scotonomics in Dundee on the climate crisis. The group said the first thing they wanted attendees to "think about at the event would be environmentalism".
Parrique, the author of The Politics of Economic Degradation, was joined on the panel hosted by climate corruption journalist Rachel Donald from Planet: Critical and Lukas Bunse from WeAllScotland.
Neil McInroy from The Democracy Collaborative was in the audience and asked towards the end of the session what action could people take to speed up and deepen the response to climate crisis in Scotland.
McInroy said: “We can describe and have great ideas until the cows come home in your echo chambers, so what do we practically do on activist terms to actually turn the dial of the inevitable?
“What could we do that goes faster and stronger and deeper, cause at the moment we’re just failing – I think we need to do activist. Mad things tomorrow and continue to do them.”
Parrique told the audience via video link about activists currently in France taking action and said this should be done more, with additional connections built with policy.
He said: “It resonates because right now in France there is a water war against mega basins and there has been very violent action from French police against activists who have been stopping their construction of the basin – and this what neds to happen today at every single time, at every single project for extraction of things that should not be extracted.
“We need to go full power in blocking that, every single time there is a company that is launching and selling a product that has no utility, every single time there is a bank blocking certain investments and investing in others, there needs to be people at every single sequence of that chain sabotaging that project in very smart and coordinated active ways.
“This is already happening and I’m glad it’s happening. What we need to do is connect this activism, which is on an unprecedented scale today, with the actual policy alternatives that are here so we can say we’re not just blocking things, we are blocking things because we have a better plan.”
In a session later on day three of Scotonomics, Jon Helgi Egilsson began his introduction by saying he had a perception of Scots as “rebels” based on the history of Scots such as the defeat of the Romans at Hadrian’s Wall.
When asked whether he saw rebels in 21st Scotland and its policies, Egilsson said: “I hope so. I think there is really depressing things in the world, and you can’t ignore it, you have to react and what is the point of being a rebel? It’s basically fighting the status quo – you have to do it, so I hope you’re rebels in a positive way.
“I think we have to put it in the context that economics has changed over the years, and models must reflect that.
“All the rebels here in Scotland, the best thing to do is to take the modern type of money and create brand new models, help the politicians and everyone to understand how it works. It is tough because everyone will say, no, this is not mainstream and you’re going against this guy and this advice, but it’s the work that must be done.”
Kairin van Sweeden echoed Egilsson’s sentiment and said she believed the Scotonomics conference provided the space to explore non-mainstream thoughts and was its own rebellion towards the status quo of economics.
Climate activists who were in Dundee said they were talking with attendees about "how the wrong action – or inaction – when it comes to Scottish climate policy can define the future of our country and the world, and for better or for worse".
The group added: "We were not objecting to the event as such, as there were speakers there who were championing climate action, e.g. Kairin van Sweeden; however, we still wanted a presence at the event given that some speakers, such as Alex Salmond, were proponents of damaging policies, including issuing new oil and gas licences for the North Sea."
