Where do we stand? Progress in acknowledging and confronting climate change and 'peak oil’

This paper reviews the current state of public debate concerning the problems of 'climate change’ and 'peak oil’. Following a short analysis of what is at stake, a number of documents are reviewed, together with the public reception which some of these have encountered. There is still almost no admission that effective action to halt global warming will mean putting the global economy into sharp reverse and that peak oil will in any case have the same effect. As the political process gradually comes to acknowledge at least the basic facts, so an increasing literature of denial is appearing to reassure the public that there is nothing to worry about. Nevertheless, the 'Transition Towns/Cities’ movement, that does acknowledge the challenge, is spreading rapidly amongst a certain segment of the population and involving many local authorities. However, the academic world of urban concern has yet to open its eyes to what lies in store. The paper ends with a brief analysis of the current planning process in London showing that the challenges are apparently accepted but what this will mean in terms of altered future reality and how to plan in that context is still absent.