Stern warns: humanity is at climate crossroads
China, the world’s worst polluter, says its emissions are now set to peak earlier.
Image: Gustavo M via Flickr
Expert on the economic impacts of climate change says the stakes have never been higher for radical action to be agreed at the Paris summit.
LONDON, 21 October, 2015 − The lead author of the 2006 Stern Review on the economics of climate change says that although there will be an agreement at the UN climate conference in Paris in December, it’s what happens afterwards that is crucial.
Professor Nicholas Stern warns: “Whatever way we look at it, the action we need to take is immense.”
If governments delay taking decisive measures to halt greenhouse gas emissions, he is convinced that a tipping point on climate will be reached. “In Paris, we need recognition of what we need to do − and how radical that change will be.”
Awareness of urgency
Stern, chair of the UK’s Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and a former chief economist at the World Bank, will be involved in the Paris negotiations.
He told a packed audience at Oxford University that, on the plus side, there is now a much greater willingness to work towards a meaningful agreement on climate change.
Generally, there is far more awareness of the urgency of the issue. China and the US are not – as in the past – “dancing around each other”, but co-operating on how to bring down emissions.
“I’m very optimistic about what we can do. That’s not the same as saying I’m optimistic about what we will do”
Stern said that during talks coinciding with the state visit to the UK by China’s President, Xi Jinping, Chinese officials said the country’s emissions would peak by 2025 and then start declining. Previously, China said it would not reach peak emissions till 2030.
“I’m very optimistic about what we can do,” Stern said. “That’s not the same as saying I’m optimistic about what we will do.”
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