Recession and climate change

Over at ideas4development comes the plea that climate change should not be forgotten in the current global economic crisis that has destined millions to the unemployment scrap heap of life and lead to abject finanical misery and homelessness for others.

Whilst the plea might be heartfelt it is inevitable that climate change will be shoved off the front pages (even of the Independent). What is climate change again?

While The World Fights Recession, Let Us Not Forget Climate Change [Ideas4development]

The link between human activity and climate change is established. There is uncertainty as to how exactly the physical processes that mediate between greenhouse gases emissions and changes to our planet’s climate will unfold, but these processes are not easy to reverse, and may even be irreversible. Catastrophic effects are possible in the long-run and the more we wait the greater the risks. We must step up our efforts to mitigate climate change now as a form of insurance against these growing risks. At the same time, we now know with certainty that climate change will have a larger and more immediate negative impact on many of the world’s poor. Our concern for development and poverty reduction, as captured in the Millennium Development Goals, dictates that we mitigate climate change urgently to reduce the threats to the development prospects of the most vulnerable, as well as take action to help those already affected to adapt.

.