Carbon finance
Save the planet and the third world will pay
IPN Opinion article
Barun Mitra, co-author of Climate change and sustainable development (released 29 November 2004), writes "Not surprisingly, Kyoto does not sound convincing to the world's poor. For what this present debate over climate change has done is to divert attention from the core issue of mankind ó poverty."
Mitra discusses a salient economic lesson from history ó "increased consumption stimulates efforts at improving efficiency, which in turn contributes to conservation, economic and environmental... The Kyoto protocol seeks to reverse this relationship by focusing on reducing consumption through punitive taxes and so on, which will not ultimately help conservation goals."
Personal view: The science behind climate change forecasts adds up to a lot of hot air
IPN Opinion article
The IPCC is misleading in its use of climate scenarios and predictions
Forget about changing weather -- just adapt
IPN Opinion article
A new book, Adapt or Die - the science, politics and economics of climate change edited by Kendra Okonski - offers another path.
Adapt or Die is a collection of papers by some leading climatologists, energy experts and policy researchers. It does not deny that climates change nor that man can play a role in climate change.
The book argues that in the face of an uncertain and changing climate, the best option for mankind is to adapt to climate as man has done for thousands of years, rather than trying to change it.
