Planning for an Era of Climate Change Disasters

"We must work with some urgency to preserve the agricultural land close to our major cities from encroaching development, while partnering with farmers to better manage the landscapes they steward," Mark Allen writes for the Green Left Weekly. Allen sees the desire to build new infrastructure, instead of improving on what already exists, as a major problem for the environment. "The main emphasis has to be on making what we already have work better for us, while embracing new ideas and discriminating in favour of public housing," Allen argues.

Allen also expresses concerns about population growth. He sees foreign aid (from Australia, where he is based) to boost education and health as a strategy to deal with the issue, because fertility rates tend to drop when countries become richer and healthier.

"Our approach to population policy should be dictated by compassion, understanding that properly directed foreign aid is the most socially equitable and ecologically sustainable first step," Allen argues.