wrapping up

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.