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The big news this week is the release of the Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change. This report goes into the drastic effects of increased temperatures due to climate change on Australia. To read the review and access Sir Nicholas Stern’s presentation and speaking notes, click here.

This is what the newspapers are saying:

Analysts sceptical about report’s impact in US

Julian Borger in Washington

Monday October 30, 2006 

Guardian Unlimited The news that Sir Nicholas Stern would be coming to the US to promote the recommendations of his global warming study was welcomed by environmentalists yesterday but there was widespread scepticism that it would contribute to a change of policy while George Bush is in office.
The White House issued a non-committal statement welcoming the Stern review as a contribution to the body of knowledge on climate changing, but did not address its calls for fundamental change in policy. "The president has long recognised that climate change is a serious issue. He has committed the nation to investing in new technologies," it said.
After initially expressing doubts, the Bush administration now accepts that industrial emissions are contributing to climate change, but it remains opposed to mandatory caps on greenhouse gas emissions and the sort of carbon trading scheme outlined in the Stern report. The White House argues that such measures would impose crippling costs on the US economy, in return for uncertain gains. "

A new Kyoto but let’s not exaggerate: PM

Phillip Coorey and Stephanie Peatling
November 1, 2006

The Sydney Morning Herald   JOHN HOWARD will announce today $60 million in spending on 42 projects aimed at reducing greenhouse gases as he seeks to combat Labor accusations that the Government has dragged its feet on global warming.
Climate change leapt to the top of the political agenda yesterday after the release of an alarming report by a former World Bank economist, Sir Nicholas Stern, warning of global economic depression should the problem not be dealt with within 10 years.
As the Prime Minister warned his back bench not to be "mesmerised" by the report, the Opposition Leader, Kim Beazley, accused the Government of not being fair dinkum.

Stern report a call to action: Greens

Oct 31, 2006 

TVNZ.CO.NZ The Greens are hoping the Stern report on climate change will light a fuse under New Zealand’s politicians.

Pay now or pay much more later to avoid the economic costs of global warming is the stark warning in the much-heralded report from former World Bank economist Sir Nicholas Stern. He says rising temperatures could shrink the world economy by 20%. However, the economist says immediate action will cost just 1% of global GDP.
Stern says we know enough now to be aware of the magnitude of the risks, and how to act effectively. He says there is still time to avoid the worst impacts of climate change, if we act now and act internationally.

Stern report on climate change costs

28 Oct 2006 20:04:59 GMT

LONDON, Oct 28 (Reuters) – Ignoring climate change could lead to economic upheaval on the scale of the 1930s Depression, underlining the need for urgent action to combat global warming, a British report on the costs of climate change said.

For highlights of the report, a summary of which was obtained by Reuters, click here .

 

 

Rupert Murdoch’s son James, chief executive, of BSkyB, the UK satellite broadcaster, claims his company is the world’s first “carbon neutral” corporation, according to Tony Walker in The Australian Financial Review (28/10/2006, p.22).

Clever James shows the way: This may or may not be the case, but News Corp insiders credit James – arguably the most liberal, possibly the smartest of Murdoch’s four adult children – with turning his father on to the risks of global warming.

Climate not anti-market: “He’s a person with a very open mind to ideas and it’s why he’s been able to stay ahead of the curve his entire working life,” says Andrew Butcher, the News Corp spokesman. A senior News executive who is close to Murdoch’s thinking on a range of issues had this explanation: “What’s informed Rupert’s response on all of this is that the issue of global warming has become a market issue, not an anti-market issue.”

To corporate mind, it makes sense: This means Murdoch can buy into the idea of corporate responsibility for doing something about the environment not because it is being imposed under some sort of arbitrary protocol, but because it makes sense from the standpoint of the individual corporation.

30pc odds are high enough: In a recent interview with The New Yorker, Murdoch addressed the global warming issue this way: “I’m still a bit more sceptical than most people. But if there is even a 30 per cent chance that the experts are right we should do everything we can to insure against a bad outcome.”

Commentators sniff the wind: Translate Murdoch’s “30 per cent chance” into a signal to his editors and you have an explanation for the sudden greening of John Howard-admiring, Kyoto-Protocol-opposing Australian commentators. They’ve suddenly discovered the environment in one of the worst droughts in the country’s history.

News on carbon-neutral trail: At a conference organised in Pebble Beach, California in the summer Rupert Murdoch urged News Corp executives to follow James’s lead on climate change issues. News Corp has established an in-house team to study ways in which to achieve carbon neutral status across the whole group.

The Australian Financial Review, 28/10/2006, p. 22

Source: Erisk Net