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190 Citizenship

countries and those who are not yet born. In Dobson ’ s view, such respon-
sibilities go far beyond any solutions that might be created at the local
level; they involve a concrete sense of global citizenship. Dobson ’ s ideas
for global citizenship duties are actually very practical. He argues that
responsibility for the environment should be addressed by national gov-
ernments putting in place policies to reduce a country ’ s “ ecological foot-
print ” : its impact on the environment in terms of various elements,

including carbon emissions, use of finite natural resources, and pollution.
This idea can itself be applied at different scales: it is possible for a person
to calculate their own personal ecological footprint (there are many cal-
culators on the Internet), but it can also be done for a household, a town,
an organization, a region, or a country. Measuring an “ ecological foot-
print ” is a very graphic way of showing how natural resources are being
used and damaged. The “ footprint ” is the amount of the Earth ’ s surface
that is needed to sustain the person or organization measured. The great
majority of people in the West are taking up far more than their share of
the planet ’ s surface. In effect, what Dobson is proposing as the basis of
ecological citizenship is a development of what was agreed in the 1997
Kyoto Protocol: that countries must each take responsibility for reducing
a quota of carbon emissions to reverse climate change (Dobson, 2006 ;
see Greene, 2005 : 471).
Writers on environmental citizenship tend to see the emergence of
global civil society as offering the best hope for its future. Evidently,
globalization in the widest sense – the growth of transnational economic
and social processes and the setting up of international political institu-
tions – does not necessarily mean an increase in environmental awareness.
On the contrary, economic globalization may result in a more extensive
and effective exploitation of the Earth ’ s resources and more widespread
environmental degradation. Of course, environmentalists believe that the
planet ’ s inhabitants will, by the same token, be increasingly exposed to
ecological disasters as a result. However, this will not in itself lead to
informed measures to safeguard the environment. People may ignore
“ nature ’ s warnings. ” Anthony Giddens argues that this is especially likely
because, although people may believe that environmental damage will be
catastrophic, if they do not actually experience its effects, they will prefer
not to change their way of life until it is too late (Giddens, 2009 : 2). Nor
will a greater degree of democratic participation lead automatically to a
greater sensitivity to the environment. Indeed, it might equally well lead
to greater destruction if citizens embrace a productivist, consumer
identity. Global environmental citizenship requires an increase in
public awareness of the issues and the construction of the will to act in