Stern report postscript
The UK Treasury has made available a Postcript and Technical Annex on the Stern Report into the economics of climate change. The Postscript is a reaction to some of the comments made when the original report was released in November 2006, while the Technical Annex presents a Sensitivity Analysis of the model used in the study. The Postscript ends with the following conclusions:
“Climate change presents a very serious challenge. The most severe damage will be felt in the future, often the far future, but decisions that we take now could lock in those damages.
The broad conclusion of our analysis is that urgent action should be taken to reduce the risk of committing the world to the real possibility of very high temperature increases. The next few years will be critical. Action is required now, if we are to stabilise somewhere in the range from 450-550ppm CO2e. Success will depend on continuity in the process of building carbon markets, and imagination and ambition in scaling up co-operation in areas such as technology and reducing deforestation.
The Review is intended as a contribution to the discussion. We welcome the debate that has been stimulated, and hope that further work will take place on all the issues raised by the Review, including those explored further in this postscript and its technical appendix on aggregate modelling.”
Meanwhile, the author of the report, Sir Nicholas Stern, has told the Environmental Audit Committee of the British House of Commons that he is encouraged by the progress being made globally in dealing with climate change.