pic: wikipediaThis morning Jeremy Maggs interviewed Guy Midgley, from the South African National Biodiversity Institute, Richard Worthington from Earthlife Africa, and Sir Nicholas Stern, head of the UK government economic service, and author of the Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change published late last year, in a debate about global warming.

Apart from the fact that the topic is close to our hearts, and was fiercely interesting to listen to, what struck the urban sprout team the most was the positive input of the panel – this was not doom and gloom – and the feeling that South Africans are beginning to understand that they can contribute as individuals to an immense and serious global issue.

Nick Stern is out in South Africa as part of his international tour to promote The Stern Review and his economic message on the urgency of tackling climate change.

Speaking yesterday, he said Africa could benefit from global initiatives for clean energy investment, reduced deforestation and development of global public goods.

Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism Marthinus van Schalkwyk said South Africa stood ready to take on its share of challenges as a developmental investment in future generations.

"In South Africa, we are looking at ways of making climate change mitigation policies and measures part of a pro development and growth strategy for the longer term.

"We understand the key message of the Stern report...the earlier effective action is taken, the less costly it will be in the long run." [allafrica.com]

The Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change is a 700-page report released in October 2006, discussing the effect of climate change and global warming on the world economy.

Its main conclusions are that one percent of global GDP (gross domestic product) needs to be invested a year in order to mitigate the effects of climate change, and that failure to do so could risk global GDP being up to twenty percent lower than it otherwise might be.

Stern’s report suggests that climate change could be the greatest and widest-ranging market failure ever seen. He stated that "our actions over the coming few decades could create risks of major disruption to economic and social activity, later in this century and in the next, on a scale similar to those associated with the great wars and the economic depression of the first half of the 20th century." [Wikipedia]

The executive summary emphasises that there is still time to avoid the worst impacts of climate change, if we take strong action now.

It outlines how the costs of stabilising the climate are significant but manageable, and that action on climate change is needed across all countries – it demands an international response.