'Climate Change, Ethics and the Economics of the Global Deal'.
06 Dec 2007
Audio file and slides from Sir Nicholas Stern's RES Annual Lecture 2007.
Sir Nicholas Stern of the LSE visited the University on 29 November to talk about 'Climate Change, Ethics and the Economics of the Global Deal'.
Delivering the Royal Economic Society's annual public lecture ahead of this week's world summit on climate change in Bali, Sir Nicholas emphasised that targets and trading must be at the heart of a global agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The problem of climate change involves a fundamental failure of markets: those who damage others by emitting greenhouse gases generally do not pay. Climate change is a result of the greatest market failure the world has seen. The evidence on the seriousness of the risks from inaction or delayed action is now overwhelming. We risk damages on a scale larger than the two world wars of the last century. The problem is global and the response must be a collaboration on a global scale.
Sir Nicholas proposed a programme of change which requires rich countries to lead the way in taking action. That means adopting ambitious emissions reduction targets; encouraging effective market mechanisms; supporting programmes to combat deforestation; promoting rapid technological progress to mitigate the effects of climate change; and honouring their aid commitments to the developing world.
For a full record of the event, you can download an audio file of Sir Nicholas Stern's lecture and a copy of his Powerpoint slides from the University website at: