David Miliband

Foreign Secretary

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Monday 27 October, 2008

Will the economic downturn fell the climate change campaign or can the climate campaign help fight the downturn?

This US think tank report provides one answer, along with Lord Stern's article in the Guardian last week. The headline is that the report suggests spending $100billion over 2 years to fundamentally change US production and consumption of energy which would create 2 million new jobs nation-wide. It suggests spending would eventually be paid back to the Treasury by a future cap and trade programme. Green issues feature in both US Presidential campaigns.
 

Posted at 15:47 27 October 2008 by David Miliband  |  Comments[8]

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David, You may be interested in this short piece from Frank Jotzo, one of the authors of the Garnaut Review a report similar in nature to the Stern Report, commissioned in Australia and completed last month. The short of it is that the crisis may push emissions up by sapping investment in renewables and clean technologies. Particularly if China decides they need to delay investment in low carbon technologies and policies. Jotzo's piece is here: http://eastasiaforum.org/2008/10/21/financial-crisis-driving-emissions-up-or-down/

Posted by Dominic on October 27, 2008 at 06:07 PM GMT #

Dear David, This is a good question; it was much debated at www.cambridgeclimate.com a conference run by some CU students last month. My group is running a conference HEAT08 showing how through a combination of solar sourcing of heat and electricity, energy efficiencies through low power and smart metering and management devices and systems, and the smart grid; and through radically better designed e.g Nordic Passive houses and buildings, we can actually take out the highly significant built-environment emissions/energy question. I enjoyed your talk on the "transition economy" last year at the law faculty here. I wonder if you'd like to give an address / join us for the discussion? Yours, Justin Justin Hayward Director, CIR Ltd and Solar Smart HEAT Conference Expo 2008 New Hall, Cambridge University CB3 0DF on Friday 28 November - all day 01223 303500

Posted by Justin Hayward PhD MBA on October 27, 2008 at 06:47 PM GMT #

David With the greatest respect, I think you are overstating your case. You are right that that measures to tackle climate change may not be as expensive as they first appear because there are additional benefits, such as the creation of jobs. But it is not possible that by recognizing a new constraint - namely the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions - we can be made better off than we were before we became aware of that constraint. We could, at best, be no worse off. So the climate change campaign will not "help to fight the downturn". It is a necessary evil. The best we can say is that the climate change campaign can - and must - be afforded while we also tackle the downturn. Warm regards from Addis Ababa Owen

Posted by Owen Barder on October 27, 2008 at 06:53 PM GMT #

David, Anyone concerned about the lives of their children and grandchildren will agree that we have to make massive efforts now to alleviate climate change. Certainly government should be striving drastically to reduce our carbon footprint and creating jobs in green industries is an essential move towards both the climate campaign and the economic downturn. But it is time to develop steady state economics rather than pursue the myth that economic growth can go on forever. XXXXXXXXXXXX Fundamentally, unless we in the west consume less - by buying fewer goods, by putting less heat into our homes, by transporting goods less, by cutting our travel on ground and air so that we guzzle less oil - carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere will continue to rise, the global climate will continue to deteriorate, and the lives of our descendants will be blighted by our greed and folly. And if the aspirations of developing countries seek the same levels of affluence as the west has at present, the world future is bleak. We can only expect fast growing economies like China and India to seek a different path to progress for their peoples if we in the over-developed economies start to cut back. As Foreign Secretary you must know this! Consuming less means the end of economic growth. XXXXXXXXXX Today’s article in The Guardian G2 by Rory Carroll is relevant: ‘The Temples of Doom’ – the collapse of the Mayan civilization. He argues that an environmentally-driven crisis was ignored by a weak leadership until it was too late to reverse a rapid decline.

Posted by Michael Bassey on October 28, 2008 at 03:56 PM GMT #

Mr.David, I agree that both the presidential candidates have emphasised on green issues and in fighting against global warming yet they havent spelt clearly on CO2 emmission cuts with a specific target and in a stipulated time frame. Sir Nicholas Stern in his "Stern Review of Economics" has forecast huge economic losses for failure to effectively combact global warming and becomes much more difficult to reverse for prolonging further. Effective CO2 cuts from the P3 countries would only be the final solution. Regards / Venkat.

Posted by VENKATRAGAVAN M SANTHANAM on November 02, 2008 at 02:59 AM GMT #

I wonder why people are so worried about climate change. Climate will keep changing anyway because of natural reasons. People just can't stop it. It is better to think about real problems what can be solved. The economic downturn is one of them.

Posted by Nikolai Kryukov on November 02, 2008 at 08:56 PM GMT #

I agree that Climate Change is our greatest challenge and as an individual I am working and spending to reduce my carbon footprint, actually been doing that for years, long before IPCC and CO2 were popular buzzwords. In Islamabad - my wife's last posting, I noted the total lack of solar panels in such a sunny climate, same for Cairo - more importantly none on the FCO estate! Go on to Google Earth and still none in evidence while the FCO is pontificating to these countries about how much UK inc is doing and how they should follow our example - do as I say not as I do! If I was PM Pakistan / Egypt / other developing country and being pressured to improve my countries use of sustainable energy I would ask for a tour of the compound and point at the roof and say "why do you use our subsidised oil and gas, its supposed to be for the poor, where are the solar panels to heat your bath water?". Please, lets invest in appropriate renewable technology in sunny countries, even better, make sure its British sourced and more than that, boast about it!

Posted by Simon Mallett on November 03, 2008 at 06:53 PM GMT #

'Dear Justin Thanks for your response. The initiatives at www.cambridgeclimate.com look excellent. My apologies I won't be able to come along on 28 November but I wish you well for the conference. David

Posted by David Miliband on November 04, 2008 at 04:07 PM GMT #

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