Anthropogenic climate change
Economic solutions to these risks have been highlighted in the 2007 Stern review, and this has seen some success in the form of pledges made by various national governments following the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement. However, research from Stanford U niversity suggests that ‘even with low emissions, we could see 2 C of warming’ ( Diffenbaugh, 2023), highlighting the insufficiency of economic solutions in isolation and thus the need for the implementation of social solutions alongside them. Courses of action to reduce the effects of warming were proposed in the 2007 Stern Review, outlining the economics of anthropogenic climate change and highlighting how ‘the cost of stabil izing the climate change are . . . manageable; delay would be . . . much more costly.’ The review also outlined a course of action revolving around carbon pricing, an increase in investment into the development of green technologies, and the integration of the climate into international and development policies. It is these proposed actions which serve as an example of economically viable solutions to anthropogenic climate change. While the 1% of global GDP required to bring about these changes is not a negligible sum, it is far lower than the potential overall cost of climate change impacts, estimated to be the equivalent of 5% of global GDP annually if ‘business as usual’ policies are followed. The implementation of carbon pricing allows corporate bodies to see the literal cost of their actions, and development of green technologies can aid in the transition to a lower carbon economy. The emergence of this review has had an effect, with climate policy being enshrined into pledges and law. The USA promise to reach Net Zero before 2050 and the 2015 Paris Agreement are some examples of this. However, as we have seen, even with low emissions, we could see 2 C of warming (Diffenbaugh 2023), highlighting how the pledges that have been made do not necessarily equate to sufficient reduction in release of greenhouse gasses and subsequently does not mean that sufficient action regarding climate change is being taken. It is the lack of evidence to support the claim that the globe is on track to meet the goal of keeping emissions below 2 C (despite the existence of economic solutions), that demonstrates how social solutions must be implemented alongside economic solutions in order to properly reduce the risks of anthropogenic warming. There are many forms which these social solutions can take, such as grassroots action including lifestyle changes to reduce individual ‘carbon footprints’ . There is certainly an argument to be presented that a solution to anthropogenic warming lies within changes to individual lifestyle choices. Roy and Pal (2009) highlight how ‘GHG reduction potential is huge since an individual can contribute in a number of ways such as reduction in meat consumption, purchase of efficient appliances ’ as well as how ‘achieving a sustainable level of energy use would mean reducing the household energy budget’ . As of 2016, energy production was responsible for 73.2% of global GHG production, and agriculture a further 18.4% (Jack 2022). By reducing demand for these factors by taking action such as reducing meat consumption, GHG emissions fall and thus serve as a means of climate mitigation. However, the effectiveness in lifestyle changes in bringing about the net zero emissions required are limited. Clark (2022) points out how ‘great drivers of consumption are . . . governments, who structure and influence the systems that meet our needs’ . While significant, collective lifestyle change cannot bring about Net Zero emissions in isolation due to the influence our governments have over GHG emissions. Our governments have the potential to either increase or decrease GHG emissions of their countries significantly, as demonstrated by the approval of over 100 new oil and gas licences by Sunak’s British Conservative government as of July 2023 (Walker 2023). It could thus be argued that an even more effective solution to the mitigation of climate change is governmental action to introduce sustainable
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