With the publication of the 4th Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), it should now be clear to everyone that climate change is one of the most serious issues facing humanity. Even President George W. Bush, after almost a decade of denial, has mentioned the dreaded words 'climate change'.
The facts speak for themselves. China’s glaciers are diminishing each year. If they disappear, from where will the 250 million people who depend on their melt-waters get water during the dry season? Australia is now in the grip of a severe drought which is, most probably, due to global warming. Will there be enough water to support the population of Perth or Sydney? A rise of one metre in the sea level would make it impossible for over 30 million Bangladeshis to live in the delta area. A significant rise in sea-levels will inundate many of the cities of the world and create a torrent of environmental refugees.
The 2500 scientists who compiled the IPCC document have done humanity a huge service. It is now clear that there is a direct relationship between burning fossil fuel and climate change. The report from the economist Sir Nicholas Stern came to similar conclusions about the pressing need for a change in how we manage our environment.
According to Strern, global warming is the greatest failure ever of market economics. He argues that from an economic perspective, it is crucial that we take remedial action immediately. His report shows that if we tackle it now it will only cost about 1% percent of the global gross domestic product (GDP). If we leave it for another 10 or 15 years it could cost in the region of 5% to 20% of global GDP.
I attended the UN Climate Change conference at Nairobi in November 2006. I noticed that almost all the negotiations around climate change quoted scientific, political and economic data but seldom mentioned the core ethical values involved in any human activity, particularly a destructive one like emitting greenhouse gases.
This is unfortunate because many profound ethical dimensions can be obscured by the scientific and economic arguments put forward for various climate change proposals. Unless ethical arguments are addressed, individual nations will continue to seek their short-term economic gain, no matter how this affects the global common good,
One of the first ethical principles is identifying those who are responsible for the damage caused by