So it has been 3 months since I started this blog
and it is now time to give a brief summary of what I have said and some small
conclusions and opinions that I have come to.
I set off talking about how the discourse on
climate change has become more relevant to us and how we make decisions on
climate change mitigation in the context of abrupt climate changes and the
economic rationale behind such action (or inaction). I have also set out to
identify some of the impacts of abrupt climate change events to economic
development.
I was fortunate (or unfortunate) to have had the
occurrence of adverse weather conditions (such as Hurricane Sandy) and key
climate policy decisions (extension of the Kyoto Protocol) being made during
this period of time and I have tried to incorporate these factors into the
discussion on abrupt climate change.
As the discussion unfolded, I realized that the
recurring theme among all the different aspects of mitigating climate change
was how the uncertainties were managed and how people made decisions based on
their perception of these uncertainties and the degree to reach people were
risk averse. I have only mentioned the reasons and considerations behind making
policy decisions and have not explicitly talked about the costs and benefits
involved in the process of mitigating climate change but I recognize this as a
way to bring this project forward. I rounded up the discussion with two case
studies; one for mitigating climate change and the other for identifying
possible correlations between human development and climate change.
This experience has shown me that we continue to
tread the line between inaction and taking action to combat climate change.
This situation is made worse by contrasting opinions on climate change. My view
on this concurs with the recent Global Risk 2013 report by the World Economic
Forum (the section on economic and environmental resilience). Delaying action
on climate change is not justified as costs (both economic and social) are rising. The line is only getting thinner the further we walk away from positive action on climate change mitigation.
