Presentation from David McCoy, Centre for Primary Care and Public Health, Queen Mary University, at the SHOEs conference in Sandwell on March 28 2014

1. Politics, Poverty and Political
Economy:
The backdrop to climate change
David McCoy
Centre for Primary Care and Public Health, Queen Mary University
Medact

3. Friederich Hayek

4. Neoliberalism
A set of theories and beliefs
• Free Markets
• Small states
• Strong private property rights
• Low taxation
• Homo economicus
• Individualism
• All that matters has a price (and can be priced)
Linked to Idea of economic growth being fundamental
Associated with ‘globalisation’
A political project …..
Theory ≠ Practice

5. Neoliberalism
Not just a set of theories and ideas ….

6. Rising inequality and enduring poverty
• > 50% of humanity lives below $3.25 / day

7. • Richest 2% of adults owned 51% of global assets in 2000
• Bottom half owned barely 1%
Davies, Sandström, Shorrocks and Wolff, 2006. World Distribution of Household Wealth.
World Institute for Development Economics Research (WIDER)

8. 0
2
4
6
8
10
12
20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80
NumberofCountries
Gini Coefficient (%)
Global Gini Coefficient Compared with Frequency
Distribu on for Individual Countries

9. Source: Alvaredo, Atkinson, Piketty and Saez (2013) ‘The World Top Incomes
Database’, http://topincomes.g-mond.parisschoolofeconomics.eu/ Only includes countries
with data in 1980 and later than 2008.

10. Eradicating poverty ($1.25-a-day)
– requires GDP pc > $110,000 (2005 PPP)
• 11 x 2010 level
• 3.3 x high-income OECD average
– take >100 years at 1993-2010 global growth rate
• Or ….
– poverty gap = 0.6% of global GDP (PPP)
Source: David Woodward

11. Eradicating poverty ($5 / day)
– requires GDP pc > $1.35m (2005 PPP)
• 135 x 2010 level
• 40 x high-income OECD average
– take >200 years at 1993-2010 global growth rate
• Or …
– poverty gap = 6.7% of global GDP (PPP)
Source: David Woodward

12. Global Growth and Poverty with Binding Carbon
Constraints
Poverty
increase
Global
growth
Markets/
opportunities
Poverty
reduction
Increased
emissions
Climate
change
Carbon intensity of global GDP must fall 92-97% to limit global warming to 2°C
Far beyond the potential of known/anticipated technologies

13. The rich provoke climate change through over consumption
The poor are dependent on the over-consumption of the rich for their
meagre economic growth
and are contributing to ecological suicide at the local level through
desperation and short term survival

14. Neoliberalism and climate change
• Intellectual property rights regime
• Corporate capture
– Monopolies and oligopolies
• Financialisation
• Political failures / democratic deficits

15. Implications
• Alternative development paradigm
• Global governance
• Political bottlenecks / millstones
Between the Rack and a Hot Place: Can we Reconcile Poverty Eradication and
Tackling Climate Change?
David Woodward
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFpHs0sDKug

16. Food worth a week of discussion ……
Read up
Be empowered
Recognise that we are led by many an
emperor with no clothes ….
Recognise that we are also ruled by
many who need to be opposed …..
But the bulk of us are decent and
sensible

17. And join Medact …….

18. Thankyou
And go well Dr Jonny …..

19. Health and
Human Rights
Weapons and
War
Climate and
Ecology
Economic
Justice
Holistic analysis of the inter-connectedness of these issues
looked through the lens of health, sustainability and justice …..
Nuclear weapons
Impact assessment
Biological and chemical
warfare
Protection of civilians
and health workers
Non-nuclear weapons
Drones
Psycho-social
rehabilitation post
conflict
Tax and Health
Trade, investment and
finance
Intellectual property /
Privatisation of
knowledge
Global warming
Nuclear energy
Water
Access to care for
refugees, asylum
seekers
People held in detention
Human rights medicine
and medical complicity
in torture
Privatisation and
commercialisation of
health care
Corporate capture of
public health
Health professionals for a fairer, safer and better world