EARTH DAY, which started in 1970, is an important symbol. But if we are to seriously tackle climate change, we need a major change in our consciousness as a global community, and better-equipped and more democratic global institutions.

The European Union(EU) provides a methodology. The EU included in its beginning an advisory parliamentary assembly that gradually converted to direct elections and co-decision powers.

This European Parliament helped Europe surmount the constitutional logjams and “Eurosclerosis” of the 1980s.  If the imitative Campaign for a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly (detailed at www.unpacampaign.org) is successful, the UN will immediately have a citizens’ watchdog at the highest level, and an institutional lever to bring about the reform and global co-operation needed if the planet is to survive the many environmental challenges ahead.