Bristol Green Party - Letters - Not Stern Enough

Bristol Green Party

Not Stern Enough - Glenn Vowles, 1 November 2006

To: Bristol Evening Post

Dear Sir/Madam

Government policies on climate change do not go far enough or fast enough, just as past 'actions' have been insufficient, slow or non-existent. The Governments own figures show that UK carbon emissions are 2% higher now than when Tony Blair came to power in 1997, despite the apparent concern ! Successive govts have neglected real action on climate, and now look where we are, with the Stern Report stating with authority that climate change could cost trillions of pounds. The upward carbon pollution trend needs to peak within ten to fifteen years if we are to keep temperature rise to 2 degrees in the next 50 or 100 years, according to the climate models.

Taking action in the early 80's or 90's when Greens were calling for it would have been both easier and cheaper than it now will be, though acting now is much cheaper and easier than taking no action and suffering even more climate change! The chances of success for any action on climate would also have been higher if we had acted earlier.

The Stern Report has underestimated the extent of economic change needed to really tackle climate change. We are a factor of ten away from being sustainable in resource and energy terms and need to establish a new approach to socio-economics which seems to me to say that we need to gear much more than 1% of GDP to the task! Our economy needs to shift to local production for local needs, especially food, with money raised from green taxes reinvested in quality public transport and other services and our society geared to a much more community-based rather than globalising lifestyle. Governments have yet to say no to road building and airport expansion and deliver anything like big carbon emissions cuts.

Action needs to range across all areas involving the consumption of fossil fuels at some point in the chain of economic events - these days this means, well, just about everything! And lets not forget that the globalisation of trade is of course rapidly raising carbon emissions levels. Whilst the Stern Report's primary focus is the economic impacts of climate change - I think it is worth remembering his reports indications of the huge social and environmental impacts too! Frankly its not so much the cost of climate change as the impacts on people and the natural world that have always concerned me, though you cant of course separate these off from economics as they are interdependent.

Without an economy which is reconciled with the environment we wont and cant tackle climate change effectively. Stern and the Government are wrong if they are saying that we can grow as in the past, but just pay a climate change bill and carry on.

Yours

Glenn Vowles
Bristol Green Party