Sir Nicholas Stern will tomorrow unveil a series of proposals aimed at taking both a national and global approach, costing billions of dollars, to tackling climate change.
Sir Nicholas has been preparing the report on the economics of climate change, on behalf of the Treasury, since July 2005. The former World Bank economist is expected to say that tackling climate change now will cost billions of dollars, but it will still be cheaper than not acting.
On a national level, a variety of measures will be recommended, including increasing research and development into renewable energy, encouraging the use of lower energy products and scrapping barriers that hinder attempts to lead a greener lifestyle. This could include doing away with planning laws that forbid wind turbines on roofs.
"The environment is the one subject that makes eyes glaze over at the Treasury," said Andrew Simms, policy director at the New Economics Foundation think tank. "So the report's a good thing in that sense."
But he warned that it was unlikely to go far enough on wider issues. The Government has not backed annual targets for cutting CO2 emissions, for example, preferring long-term reduction goals. Many disagree with this approach, but the Stern report is unlikely to come out against the Government.
Sir Nicholas will also stress the need for global action, and on giving developing countries help to tackle environmental issues. But Mr Simms said: "There's a little bit of slipperiness here. The UK may be responsible for 2 per cent of global emissions, but companies on the FTSE 100 together are responsible for 11 to 15 per cent of total global emissions. They will play that down and point to China. But on a per person basis, its emissions are only a tiny fraction of what they are in the UK."
Mr Simms believes that energy giants such as BP and Shell should help foot the bill for tackling climate change, primarily through windfall taxes.
But there are concerns that small business will be hit. David Frost, the director general of the British Chambers of Commerce, said: "The default position of all this political discussion is that somehow, it's business that's going to pay. Well, it can't afford to.
"If the Government is serious, it needs to make it clear where [smaller firms] can go for practical help. We also have to look at organisations like the Carbon Trust, which have grant assistance available, and look at whether it's enough and whether it's targeting the right people."
Sir Nicholas Stern will tomorrow unveil a series of proposals aimed at taking both a national and global approach, costing billions of dollars, to tackling climate change.
Sir Nicholas has been preparing the report on the economics of climate change, on behalf of the Treasury, since July 2005. The former World Bank economist is expected to say that tackling climate change now will cost billions of dollars, but it will still be cheaper than not acting.
On a national level, a variety of measures will be recommended, including increasing research and development into renewable energy, encouraging the use of lower energy products and scrapping barriers that hinder attempts to lead a greener lifestyle. This could include doing away with planning laws that forbid wind turbines on roofs.
"The environment is the one subject that makes eyes glaze over at the Treasury," said Andrew Simms, policy director at the New Economics Foundation think tank. "So the report's a good thing in that sense."
But he warned that it was unlikely to go far enough on wider issues. The Government has not backed annual targets for cutting CO2 emissions, for example, preferring long-term reduction goals. Many disagree with this approach, but the Stern report is unlikely to come out against the Government.
Sir Nicholas will also stress the need for global action, and on giving developing countries help to tackle environmental issues. But Mr Simms said: "There's a little bit of slipperiness here. The UK may be responsible for 2 per cent of global emissions, but companies on the FTSE 100 together are responsible for 11 to 15 per cent of total global emissions. They will play that down and point to China. But on a per person basis, its emissions are only a tiny fraction of what they are in the UK."
Mr Simms believes that energy giants such as BP and Shell should help foot the bill for tackling climate change, primarily through windfall taxes.
But there are concerns that small business will be hit. David Frost, the director general of the British Chambers of Commerce, said: "The default position of all this political discussion is that somehow, it's business that's going to pay. Well, it can't afford to.
"If the Government is serious, it needs to make it clear where [smaller firms] can go for practical help. We also have to look at organisations like the Carbon Trust, which have grant assistance available, and look at whether it's enough and whether it's targeting the right people."
source: http://news.independent.co.uk/business/news/article1938250.ece 29oct2006
Climate change could end up costing the global economy up to £3.68 trillion ($6.98 trillion) unless drastic action is taken, a key report is set to warn.
Economist Sir Nicholas Stern will also warn that failure to act would turn 200 million people into refugees as their homes could by hit by drought or flood.
An international plan to tackle climate change is needed to prevent a global recession, the UK review will say.
Newspaper reports say the study will spark fierce political debate.
Already Environment Secretary David Milliband is proposing green taxes designed to change people's behaviour to offset global warming.
Meanwhile, the Conservative Party has told the BBC it is examining the possibility of taxing air travel.
The government commissioned Sir Nicholas's 700-page report in 2005. It will be the first contribution to the debate by an economist, rather than a scientist.
'Environmental price'
"For 150 years, we've pumped carbon into the atmosphere - whether through energy or transport - as if it had no price," Mr Milliband told Sky News.
"But in fact, it has an environmental price. And as we're learning from Sir Nicholas Stern, it has an economic price as well. And for the future, we have to recognise that environmental and economic price of carbon emissions in the way we live and work."
According to reports, the Stern Review will forecast that 1% of global gross domestic product (GDP) - around £184bn - must be spent on tackling climate change immediately.
Failure to act early could end up costing between 5% and 20% of global GDP and render large parts of the planet uninhabitable with poor nations hit first and hardest.
Green taxes, carbon trading schemes and changing behaviour will help reduce the effect of climate change - but any schemes should encompass the globe, the report will add.
According to the Observer, Sir Nicholas will explain that unilateral moves will not be enough.
For example, if the UK shut down all of its power stations tomorrow, the reduction in global emissions would be wiped out in just over a year by increased emissions from China.
'Urgent deal needed'
Reports say the review will urge the international community to sign a new pact on greenhouse emissions by next year rather than in 2010/11 when they had planned to agree a successor to the Kyoto agreement on cutting carbon dioxide emissions.
Even if immediate action is taken to cut pollution, slow acting greenhouse gases will continue to have an effect on the environment for another 30 years, the Stern Review will add.
Ahead of the reports publication, action groups and development agencies have urged the government to take action to protect poor countries from the effects of climate change.
"Poor communities, who have contributed least to climate change, are suffering the most from its effects. Current efforts to respond to climate change are simply not urgent enough," said Tearfund Advocacy Director Andy Atkins.
Christian Aid added it hoped the review would focus world leaders' attention on the need for urgent action to tackle climate change.
"This is an issue far more important than mere economics. People's lives are already being ruined by climate change and millions more are facing cataclysmic change for the worse," said the group's senior climate change analyst Andrew Pendleton.
source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/6096084.stm 29oct2006
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