A leading international climate change economist has urged Tony Abbott not to “wish away” the evidence for climate change or prevent it from being discussed at the upcoming G20 summit because of “local politics” and a “lack of courage” to confront the scientific evidence. His comments come as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [IPCC] release the most rigorous synthesis of climate change science to date, making it clear that without urgent cuts in greenhouse gas emissions, global temperatures will rise by more than 2 degrees. In a commentary for the Guardian, Nicholas Stern, chair of the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change in the UK and a former World Bank chief economist, wrote that climate change action by politicians was now urgent, with lives and livelihoods at risk. “With each successive decade being warmer than the last globally, and this year shaping up to be the hottest ever recorded, the reality of climate change is undeniable, and cannot be simply wished away by politicians who lack the courage to confront the scientific evidence,” he wrote. “[It] should place enormous pressure on the Australian prime minister, Tony Abbott, to make it a major agenda item at the G20 summit later this month, instead of shunting it to the sidelines. The G20 summit would provide the most effective platform for world leaders to discuss transitioning to a low-carbon economy, he wrote. “Yet the local politics of a country of less than 25 million is being allowed to prevent essential strategic discussions of an issue that is of fundamental importance to the prosperity and well-being of the world’s population of 7 billion people.” theguardian/world/2014/nov/02/nicholas-stern-tony-abbott-should-not-prevent-g20-debate-on-climate-change?CMP=twt_gu
Posted on: Sun, 02 Nov 2014 13:00:13 +0000
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