10. Stern Climate Views

A discussion paper on the UK Treasury's review of the economics of climate change, which is being carried out under Sir Nicholas Stern, says that ‘we will have to go far beyond the actions currently agreed if we are to stabilise greenhouse gasses at any acceptable level’ but claims that “The private sector will respond if the government sets clear, long-term and credible incentives”. The Treasury adds that ‘adaptation and mitigation are not choices: substantial climate change is already inevitable over the next 30 years, so some adaptation is essential’.
The review, which should be completed by the autumn, will feed into the next report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which is expected to be published early next year. One good thing about the review is that all the papers are being put on the web- there have been a lot of very interesting submissions. See:
www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/independent_reviews/stern_review_economics_climate_change/sternreview_responses.cfm#individuals_AM

Blair backs Stern- and pushes technology

In a letter to the Stop Climate Chaos coalition, on the eve of their Carbon Dating campaign event in Feb., Tony Blair commented ‘We now all recognise the vital role of technology in finding a sustainable solution to climate change which is one where cutting carbon emissions goes hand-in-hand with continued prosperity. This needs a new understanding of the economic, technological and business opportunities from a low carbon, energy efficient path. The Stern review on the economics of climate change will add to our understanding of this and- I hope- start to change the debate on climate change from one which pits economic costs against environmental benefits, to one which recognises that there are economic costs and benefits to both action and inaction on climate change. We need, in particular, stronger action to boost investment in research into cleaner technology, to bring that technology from design to manufacture and to enable it to be used in developed and developing world.’

DEFRA says Climate disaster looms

The last few months have seen fears about climate change increase- James Lovelocks terrifying predictions on likely terminal impacts on humanity (Independent 16th Jan) will hopefully be seen as a ‘worst case’ wake-up call, rather than an excuse for inaction. That was certainly the view of the new DEFRA report based on last years Met Office Conference in Exeter (see Renew 156), entitled, ‘Avoiding Dangerous Climate Change’. It warned that the rate of climate change was worse than feared, and looked at some of the solutions- renewables, energy efficiency, carbon sequestration and nuclear. It sees renewables as the biggest potential saviour.
See the Reviews section in Renew 162.
* The report can be accessed in PDF (16MB) from: www.defra.gov.uk/environment/climatechange/internat/dangerous-cc.htm