SEAD (Scottish Education and Action for Development)

The fact that, even in the midst of last October’s announcements about bailouts for our banks in response to the global financial crisis, government advisors in the UK were pressing for 80% emissions reduction by 2050. There is a clear recognition that inaction is a greater threat to our economy than investing in emissions reductions.

Gordon Brown has said that taking action to reduce emissions is affordable if we act sooner rather than later. The economist Sir Nicholas Stern said in his recent major report on climate change that acting now would cost 1% of the global gross domestic product (GDP), whereas leaving it later could shrink the global economy by 20%.

We also need to set any costs against the cost of not taking action. The financial cost of natural disasters caused by extreme weather events, the disruption and potential collapse of food supplies, spread of disease resulting from climate change, and new water shortages resulting from droughts will all hit the global economy hard.