Economic climate vs global climate
November 18th 2008 06:09
Is anyone else as frustrated as I am about the speed at which governments around the world have acted in order to combat the global economic crisis, and how sluggish they are when it comes to combating climate change?
Why is it that when money - or a lack of it - is the primary concern, everyone jumps to attention in unison, but when it comes to preserving the air we breathe, protecting the species we share this planet with, and ultimately, maintaining a planet that is able to support life, everyone adopts an "I won't unless he does'' mentality?
Why is it that the G20 can "order a regulatory crackdown on the kind of high-risk lending and investment that has led the world into a financial mess unseen since the Great Depression'' (The Wall Street Journal), but it can't crackdown on high-risk carbon emissions that could lead to the Great Extinction?
At the G20 summit on the weekend, leaders in both emerging and industrialised countries were quick to agree on ways to reform the IMF and the World Bank, and to review world trade. Why is the same unity not available when they discuss the future of the planet? And why is it that when it comes to injecting significant fiscal stimulus, China can lead the way, but on reducing carbon emissions it refuses to play ball?
The sense of urgency that accompanies the demise of our finances far outstrips the attention given to the fact that our planet is suffocating, and that according to the worst reports, it may have less than fifty years of life left in it. Doesn't it bother our leaders that their children may not have a future?
I understand and accept that we need to have funds available to tackle climate change, and that those funds are rapidly disappearing in the current economic climate. But it is still frustrating that the whole issue of climate change is being sidlined by concerns about how we will afford Christmas this year.
But Mike Hulme, a professor in the school of environmental sciences at the University of East Anglia, believes that the current economic crisis could be just what is needed to stimulate action against climate change.
"If banks can be brought under state control through massive injection of borrowed funds, then surely new waves of state investment targeted at low-carbon energy supply and energy-efficiency technologies can be secured,'' he says.
Fantastic. There'll be money in the banks. But there's no guarantee that egos and domestic interests won't get in the way of how it is spent.
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