Denial won’t halt global warming
In today’s Australian UK Environmental Secretary David Milliband is saying Denial won’t halt global warming.
THE debate is over. For many years, sceptics of the Kyoto protocol used to base their objections on the science of climate change. But when the scientific evidence became overwhelming, many shifted their ground to economic criteria. They argued that action on emissions was too costly and should be left to the future when new technologies would make it easier.
Nicholas Stern’s inquiry into the economics of climate change, commissioned by the British Government, recently came to precisely the opposite conclusion: namely, that taking urgent action was the cheapest option. Stern shows that climate change is not insoluble. The technologies exist. They are affordable. If we act now, tackling climate change will cost about 1 per cent of global gross domestic product. If we do not, the damage will cost between 5 and 20 per cent of GDP. The longer we wait for global action the harder and more expensive it will be.
The last remaining argument is not scientific, or economic, but political.
The rest of the article takes direct aim at the Australian and United States governments. It’s not too late to fix the problem, but you have to act now. — DS
Technorati Tags: Australia, climate change, David Miliband, global warming, politics, Sir Nicholas Stern
