Climate Change - The New Economy
Unless there is political intervention, we will leave Paris with an agreement which to my mind conjures up a picture of a Christmas tree decorating party, where everyone will come and bring ornaments to hang on the tree, and a few will leave presents ‘from Santa’. If the ornaments represent the INDC pledges, and the presents represent the contributions to the Green Climate Fund, when the children wake up Christmas morning they’ll be very disappointed: the ‘ornaments’ will be woefully short of what is required to keep global mean temperature rise below 2°C, never mind the 1.5° limit that many of the most vulnerable countries are calling for, and as for the ‘gifts’ under the tree, they will be a relative pittance compared to what is required to address the problem. Civil society and the vulnerable countries will complain about the size and number of the ornaments, as well as the quantities of gifts; but the ‘adults’ will proclaim the entire affair a great success, having safely disposed of ‘the climate issue’ for another five years or so.
