On Wednesday 14 December 2011, ResPublica launched Different Politics, Same Planet: Values for sustainable development beyond left and right, a new report on environmental and humanitarian values supported by Oxfam and WWF-UK.

Proportional policy responses to today’s profound environmental and humanitarian problems will require a new level of political commitment. Doubtless, in part, this will entail the need for bolder political leadership on these issues. But it will also, inevitably, require greater electoral acceptance of – indeed, active demand for – more ambitious policy interventions.

Such public expressions of concern will be motivated by particular cultural values, which will need to come to be expressed more strongly. Drawing extensively on social psychology research, this report identifies ‘intrinsic’ values – including those of affiliation, self-acceptance, community feeling and universalism – as being of crucial importance in underpinning public expressions of concern about environmental and humanitarian issues.

The report examines some of the key factors that determine which values come to be of particular importance culturally, and the implications for those political leaders who see that they have a responsibility to help strengthen intrinsic values. Happily, the report identifies strong traditions of political thought on both the left and right that prioritise intrinsic values. In closing, it foresees the possibility of establishing a new centre of gravity in political debate: one that works systematically to strengthen intrinsic values.