Ahead of the Posse

The Irish Green Party's participation in the government was recently described in the Irish press as being ahead of the posse. It conjures up a scene from any one of a multitude of Westerns in which the sheriff takes off on the trail of our heroes. It could never happen in Malta.

Comahontas Glas, the Irish Greens, not only elected TDs in the 2007 election, they were asked to join a government coalition giving added legitimacy and the fresh input of a young political formation eager to see its policies take concrete form.

Without the Greens the rest of the present coalition could have ruled the Republic of Ireland with a slight majority. It is to outgoing Prime Minister Bertie Ahern's credit that he recognised the advantage to his government coalition of taking the Greens on board. They added stability apart from adding their vision to those of their colleagues in government.

Such a move seems improbable in Malta because we seem to lack the culture. Despite having identical electoral systems, Malta and the Republic of Ireland have steered different course in their political development.

Coalitions have been the norm for decades. It is perfectly normal for negotiations to take place after an election. It is not at all unusual for a Prime Minister to call to government those who, until just then, had the task of being his critics.

The Irish Greens were offered and took up three ministries in the Irish government in the process.

It is easy to understand why the lack of coalition culture makes such an event a matter for the far distant future in Malta. What is not so obvious is how or why the absence of such a culture makes it improbable that any Maltese newspaper may ever come up with such an expression. Operating in a well-established multiparty system, the Irish press is far freer to comment. It is not stuck firm in the rut of party loyalty and fulfils its democratic function far better. It can keep politicians on their toes and praise them without fear of being accused of bias.

Until very recently, the Irish press did not give the Greens much attention. Represented in Parliament and having elected two MEPs they still were not mainstream items. Since coming to government, they have performed; they have performed so well that a hitherto inattentive press has been pleasantly surprised. Irish journalists have not begrudged them the enviable comparison to their colleagues in government, egging on the laggards.

Greens everywhere are ahead of the posse. There is a Green Party in every European country from Georgia to Norway and everywhere they are acknowledged to be years ahead of the competition in everything environmental.

Competence on energy, food safety, nature protection, and climate change is easily conceded to the Greens everywhere.

The fact that mainstream parties are everywhere saddling up to follow in our tracks only underscores the distance we have travelled ahead of them. In the Republic of Ireland journalists make it clearer than elsewhere.

In the European Green Party (EGP) Council, ended Sunday in Ljubljana, some country studies made known to the participants established the well known fact with scientific precision. What was also made clear was that we have not yet gotten clear away.

Quite apart from the amazing spectacle of mainstream parties getting ready to gallop away on their environmental missions, in itself a resounding victory for Greens everywhere, there remains the troubling fact that voters everywhere have not yet made the connection between Green issues and their daily lives. Climate change seems very far away for most people. How does that connect to an election in Belgium or Romania? How can it tip the balance in the polling booth when pensions and available income are being eroded and made the heart of the contest?

Before we can leave the angry posse behind for good, we have to make the connections between the economy and the environment, the health, wealth and happiness of our children and our ability to see the whole picture.

The rising cost of oil and the basics of our diets such as wheat and rice can make us focus more clearly. Non-politicians can now make the connection between the two. Climate change is talked about everywhere and the challenges in our future have become inescapable even for the most reluctant of the mainstream political fractions.

The interconnectedness of everything is becoming ever more obvious to everyone. The Green discourse about maintaining a holistic perspective and taking responsibility for the actions we make in our daily lives because of their connection to everything else, including the future of life on the planet and the survival of the global economy, has become compelling to an ever-growing number of people.

While Greens are now widely acknowledged to have been ahead of the field in their concerns, the mainstream media and the public have not yet made the next step: if everything is connected there is a need for maximum coherence. It is still possible for mainstream politicians everywhere to gallop both ways at once.

The environment is very fashionable but the economic, social and cultural changes necessary to do something about it are not.

These days everybody wants to be seen to be saving whales and dolphins and inaugurating alternative energy setups. Nobody wants to say a word about the need for profound culture change.

President Nicolas Sarkozy has launched the most far-reaching environmental policy every heard of in France but remains firmly convinced that nuclear energy will save the world. The contradiction is not yet obvious to everyone.

Our own Prime Minister has taken direct responsibility for our eternal environmental challenge, land use planning, but continues to lead a party beholden to the construction lobby.

So far, only the Greens point out such glaring inconsistencies and the vast majority still fails to notice them.

The change we must all make is still too much for populist politicians to admit to themselves let alone to their constituencies. The fact that Greens have a vision of a world that has escaped the end of civilisation threatened by climate change is not enough. Being alone ahead of the posse will not do the trick.

We have been assigned the role of pathfinders but we can only claim success when the path is found and followed. The profound commitment of Greens to democracy is no accident. It has long been obvious to us that we will never address our challenges successfully with top down measures.

Mainstream political movements committed to economic or power elites simply cannot pull it off.

Most people still cannot figure out what we are talking about. We are dangerously far ahead of the posse and time is running out for them to catch up with us. It is running out for all of us.

As a member of the EGP committee I will be travelling to Sao Paolo, Brazil at the end of the month to attend the second Global Greens' Conference. In the 20 or 30 years since Greens first entered the political arena we have gone from being completely misunderstood to having our issues embraced by our competition.

It gives us all hope that the next step is also possible: that they will understand the method, the way we address our challenges is as crucial as coming to grips with the technical problems. It is inevitable that at Sao Paolo our hope and fears will come together.

Is there still time? Will it take another three decades? It is clearer than ever that absolutely everything hangs in the balance.

Our sense of urgency remains as keen a prod to action as on the first day that any of us realised that being Green is necessary. There is no time for self-congratulation that we remain so far ahead of the field.