GLOBAL WARMING
Neglecting the environment is like throwing money into the rising sea
The cost of climate change to global economies is surely an issue all can agree on irrespective of ideology, writes Lorenzo Fioramonti
The past few weeks have been a clarion call for the world: neglecting the environment is not only irrational from a biological and ethical point of view, it’s also unwise financially. At least out of economic self-interest, governments should act immediately to radically transform timid policies on climate change with a view to setting the global community on a completely different track. The few economists who argued for immediate action, such as Nicholas Stern who published a "review" for the UK government in 2006, were sidelined by more mainstream economists, policy advisers, conservative opinion makers and many corporate leaders who believed that technology would find intelligent ways to solve the problem in the future. A growing community of climate change "deniers" has had the upper hand more recently, dismissing ecologists’ findings as "fake news". Problem solved. With hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria the picture looks very different. Not only is climate change real, it’s he...
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