140 likes | 239 Views
The Civil Society Report on Climate Change. Caroline Boin Environment Programme Director, International Policy Network, London. Nearly all hypothesised climate impacts are extensions of current problems
E N D
The Civil Society Report on Climate Change Caroline Boin Environment Programme Director, International Policy Network, London
Nearly all hypothesised climate impacts are extensions of current problems Reducing the severity of those problems today will reduce the severity of future problems, whatever the climate
Humanity can Adapt ProblemAdaptive Responses c.10m infant, child deaths/year Clean water, sanitation, clean energy, malaria prevention, AIDS prevention Flooding, more precipitation Dams, dykes, and stilts Increase in hot days Fans, air conditioning, building structures Crop damage – aridity New crop varieties (GM) Change in ranges of species Improved incentives for sustainable management
But if we are really serious about reducing all these problems, is carbon control the best solution? NO!!! Our focus should be on enabling economic development and technological progress
Wealthier is Healthier Data: World Bank
Wealth and Access to Potable Water Data: World Bank
Economic Growth Data: Angus Maddison
Falling Proportion of Poor Source: Martin Wolf
But with carbon control … • Resources will be diverted into lower-carbon technologies – and away from other technologies and wealth enhancing activities. • Carbon control legitimises the imposition of the very barriers that currently hold people in poor countries back! • So, people in the future will be less wealthy, will continue to suffer diseases, drought and other problems that would likely otherwise be solved.
Is it morally defensible to divert money, human effort and other resources away from real problems that exist today and from investments that might enable our descendents to adapt to a changing world?