Bullet Points: The Economic Impact of Climate Change
THE ECONOMIC IMPACT OF CLIMATE CHANGE — THE STERN REVIEW REPORT
Justin Mundy (Senior Advisor on Climate Change to the UK Foreign Ministry)
- The Stern review, on the economics of climate change, is a 700-page report that was released on October 30, 2006, by economist Lord Stern of Brentford for the British government. In it he discusses the effect of climate change and global warming on the world economy. The study concludes — among many other findings — that the benefits of strong and early action far outweigh the economic costs of inaction4
- There is overwhelming evidence that climate change presents very serious global risks and demands an urgent global response
- Economically, it is the greatest, wide-ranging market failure ever seen
- Benefits of strong, early action outweigh the costs
- Increasing risks of serious, irreversible impacts associated with business-as-usual
- 31 of the 35 mega-cities in the world are vulnerable to the rise in sea levels
- Investment in energy in the coming decades will reduce the risks of severe and permanent consequences in the future
- Can the world be sustained at a CO2 atmospheric level of 550 parts per million (ppm)?
- Currently the planet is at 430 ppm
- At 450 ppm, average global temperature will increase by 2 degrees Celsius
- At 550 ppm it would increase 3 degrees Celsius
- Effects of long-term business-as-usual:
- Massive crop failures
- Food depletion
- Social and security collapse
- Significantly different security challenges in the next 100 years than ever seen before
- Growing and populous regions (China, India, and Sub-Suharan) scramble for remaining resources
- US and European militaries will be called upon to deploy to certain crises that arise
- There is a need for additional personnel to address the issues related to climate change
- National identity will dwindle to potentially creating violent extremism
- Costs to combat this environment would reach a minimum of $18 trillion
- The Stern Review finds that solutions to mitigation do exist presently
- Solving climate change cannot be dealt with on a national level — global cooperation is needed
- Some additional issues to consider:
- Policy should seek the diversification of energy
- Increase security around infrastructure
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