[authorbox authorid=”111″ title=”The Author”]
Money Talks is a well-known expression dating back to the 5th century B.C., and attributed to Euripides[1]. Some 2,000 years later Erasmus spoke of “the talking power of money” (Adagia, 1532). These expressions reference the power money has always exerted over those who call the shots. For years now, we have heard people calling on the world’s policymakers to wake up and smell the coffee when it comes to climate change.
The problem is that when climate experts talk, policymakers turn a deaf ear. By focusing on the cost of climate change it is hoped that policymakers will finally sit up and listen to the one thing they hear talking: money. If people see how much climate change is going to cost themselves and the world, it is hoped that they would change their practises and policy accordingly and become more environmentally friendly.
This policy paper will analyse how climate change will cost the European Union around €240 billion a year if global temperatures increase by more than 2oC[2].The paper will examine the economic cost of climate change in reference to the welfare cost estimates of extreme weather events both in Europe and globally. Europe is seen as the leader in tackling climate change (12 of the past 24 Conference of the Parties (COP), have taken place in European cities[3]), but climate change is not a European problem, it is a global problem and requires a worldwide solution.
The costs of climate change loom large in the not-so-distant future and should make us realise combatting climate change has to be a priority. In the world we live in, money speaks loudly. Let’s listen to it and take action. Divestment, pollution abatement and sustainable policies will not only save money and slow down climate change but will also be globally economically beneficial.
POLICY PAPER | Doing the Maths: The Economic Cost of Climate Change to Europe | by @SirBobGroome
Link to the Paper: https://t.co/dLBY7tBcYa pic.twitter.com/Toi256pfnb
— Vocal Europe (@thevocaleurope) March 20, 2019
Click Here to Read The Entire Policy Paper
[1] https://www.dictionary.com/browse/money-talks
[2] Compared to 2005 recorded levels.
[3] https://unfccc.int/process/bodies/supreme-bodies/conference-of-the-parties-cop
