The Stern report on the Economics of Climate Change was published on Monday amid much fanfare. It concluded (just in case you've been on Mars for the last few days) that climate change is a serious threat and that the economic cost of ignoring it will be several times the cost of trying to do something about it. The report comcerned itself only with the economics of the situation, so the millions of people who will die, the millions more who will become displaced because their homelands can no longer support them, and the loss of a substantial proportion of the species currently sharing the Earth with us did not come into the equation. Even so, the report was absolutely clear: Something Must Be Done.
It has been interesting to watch the reactions. Perhaps the most striking thing was that there was a lot of it. Environmentalists have been shouting themselves hoarse about the threat posed by climate change for at least 25 years, and nobody has taken a blind bit of notice - they were only talking about the consequences for people. Now Sir Nicholas Stern is pointing out that there might be a danger to wealth, too. That got everyone sitting up and listening.
The launch of the report had both Tony Blair and Gordon Brown present and making speeches saying how important it was and what difficult choices are going to have to be made ("Do we change our habits or do we all give up and die?" - this is a difficult choice?). Since then there has been silence from the government, though to be fair three days is not long to produce major policy changes. Today saw another publication, of a masterplan from British Airports for a threefold expansion of airport capacity by 2030. The government's reaction to that will be a litmus test - if they welcome it, or even water it down only slightly, then it's business as usual; if they reject it out of hand then there is serious cause for hope (and I will be looking for a recipe that will make my hat palatable).
The reactions of the newspapers have been an interesting contrast. The Independent went completely bananas about the Stern report, virtually turning over its Tuesday edition to discussion of climate change, what we should do about it and what we actually might do about it. The only section that was Stern-free was the sports pages - surely they missed a chance for an interview with Jose Mourinho on whether Chelsea would be getting to their European matches by coach or by train? The Guardian wasn't far behind in their coverage. The Times has been more restrained and questioning, not entirely convinced that Stern isn't going too far but clearly a bit uneasy that he may not be. Then there's the Telegraph. Oh dear, the Telegraph! The line there, both in the comment columns and on the letters page, has been fairly consistent: global warming is a myth, or at best unproven, and it's all a plot by Gordon Brown (it was the Treasury that commissioned the Stern report) to give him an excuse to foist new green taxes on us. Mention that T-word and any self-respecting Telegraph reader (and they all are!) automatically starts frothing at the mouth.
The few unfortunate members of the public that the Beeb stopped in the street to ask their opinion were understandably unimpressed - they hadn't read the report (some of them probably hadn't even heard of it till a microphone was shoved in their faces) and had a tendency to take the Telegraph line, which is the natural position of the uninformed as well as the don't-want-to-be-informed. Old habits die hard, after all, and we have all had a lifetime of being force fed the mantras of conspicuous consumption, keeping up with the Joneses, shop till you drop etc.
We have only a few years to unlearn all that and accept a new, less manic lifestyle, in which you replace something only when it doesn't work any more, working close to (or at) home is the norm and travel an occasional luxury, the air doesn't smell of petrol or give anyone asthma and the streets are full of playing children instead of anonymous metal boxes. It's going to be hell.
Don't forget to turn up in Grosvenor Square or Trafalgar Square on Saturday for the National Climate March and/or the I-Count Mass Gathering. Click here for details and timings.
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Cheers,
Mikey at Ascent to Dissent
http://ascent2dissent.blogspot.com
Posted by: Mike | November 04, 2006 at 07:10 PM