Richard Littledale's
Views on the News: November 2006

(Are we made of) Stern Enough Stuff?

Is this the turning point for committed action to address climate change? Over the past two decades there have been many stern warnings about the consequences of climate change - act now or your grandchildren will regret it. They have had little effect.

But now we have a Stern warning - act now or your grandchildren will have to pay for it. The Stern Review of the Economics of Climate Change which has been produced for the British government says that "ignoring climate change will eventually damage economic growth". But even more importantly it concludes on the basis of economic analysis that "the benefits of strong, early action considerably outweigh the costs". Those quotes come from the Executive Summary of the Stern Review but for a more accessible presentation you can read a summary of the review on the BBC website.

Simultaneously Stop Climate Chaos (a consortium including green groups and international aid organisations such as Christian Aid and Tearfund) is trying to assemble pressure from ordinary people sufficient to enable politicians to take action. Tearfund, for example, is arguing that climate change is "not just an environmental issue - it's a threat to people living in poverty". The Climate Chaos consortium says "If we choose, we can make our politicians, at home and on the international stage, take the actions needed".

So perhaps we have reached a turning point. Science, economics, environmental concern, compassion (and dare we add theology - see Views for May 2006 and Jan 2002) all point in the same direction.

The question now is whether we are made of stern enough stuff to back our political leaders from right and left when they propose action tough enough to tackle climate change.