Climate Change - An Economic Issue

That the Parliament welcomes today’s publication by Sir Nicholas Stern, Head of the UK Government economic service and former World Bank chief economist, of his report into the economics of climate change and congratulates all those involved in the production of the report; notes the report’s finding that it will cost around 1% of global GDP to take early and effective action to tackle the causes of climate change while doing nothing could cost up to 20 times that amount; acknowledges Sir Nicholas’ warning that climate change, if nothing is done to address the problem, could cause a world recession comparable to the Wall Street crash and the Great Depression, with the world’s poorest countries hit hardest and earliest; rejects as grossly misleading the notion that society must choose between a healthy environment on one hand and a healthy economy on the other and believes, instead, that in order for any kind of economic stability to exist, a stable environment is a fundamental prerequisite, and fervently hopes that the publication of this report will constitute a watershed moment in global political and public opinion, leading to a new willingness among politicians, of all complexions, to place action on climate change at the top of the political agenda, replacing the blinkered and dangerous fixation on economic growth.