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Climate Code Red: If we need a war footing to rebuild the physical economy, why can't we talk about it?

Climate Code Red: If we need a war footing to rebuild the physical economy, why can't we talk about it? | Sustain Our Earth | Scoop.it

At the end of last year a very useful discussion was opened up by a number of climate scientists in different parts of the world calling for climate change action to be put onto a war footing. 
    John Connor, CEO of the Climate Institute, questioned the desirability of pursuing this approach. But how valid was John's critique? And is there a better response to the call from the climate scientists to go onto a war footing?

This is what John said in the Climate Institute's 13 December 2012 newsletter (emphasis added):

If you are not scared or getting scared, you are not paying attention. Yet another rollercoaster year for climate policy and investment is ending as a remarkable chorus of conservative voices from the World Bank, the World Meteorological Organisation, the International Energy Agency and others state that climate change is happening and on track to get much worse in terms of danger and expense. These are realities, not just risks.

     That the UN talks in Doha didn’t reflect that urgency was frustrating.
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» IMF Backs “Green Economy” – Is it Good for Developing Countries? » Global Development: Views from the Center

» IMF Backs “Green Economy” – Is it Good for Developing Countries? » Global Development: Views from the Center | Sustain Our Earth | Scoop.it

IMF managing director Christine Lagarde announced at a CGD event on Tuesday that the IMF would provide research and analytic support in three areas crucial to sustainable development: carbon pricing, phasing out fossil fuel subsidies and green national accounting, that is, development of new measures of economic progress that take into account environmental costs and benefits not included in Gross Domestic Product (GDP). She also announced that she would be attending the Rio+20 Earth Summit in Brazil next week, a first for an IMF head. (See here for Lawrence MacDonald’s summary and analysis of the speech.)

 

In comments after the speech, Nancy Birdsall singled out the IMF work on new ways to measure economic activity as having far-reaching consequences. I agree. Current measures too often count environmental destruction as a benefit—a forest only counts in GDP when it is cut down and turned into timber. Everybody knows we need a better yardstick. Lagarde’s speech is a welcome endorsement from the citadel of economic orthodoxy of the clear need for new and better measures


Via Athena Drakou
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