The colossal cost of climate change

Monday sees the publication of the Stern Report - a major study commissioned by Gordon Brown into the economic impact of global warming. The report predicts that the cost of climate change will stretch into trillions of pounds unless the international community takes urgent action. Watch a Sky News video of the story here.

Environment Secretary David Miliband says that governments have just 10 to 15 years to make radical changes. He is suggesting a raft of green taxes to curb carbon emissions - encouraging people to use public transport, buy smaller cars and fly less. The package includes a ‘substantial increase’ in road tax for higher-emission vehicles, raising air passenger duty by £5 and making flights subject to VAT. Conservative leader David Cameron said he was prepared to tax air travel and the most polluting cars.

We certainly have to do something. This weekend saw another worrying story - revealing the effect that climate change is already having in Africa. All efforts to wipe out poverty will be cancelled out unless urgent action is taken, says ‘Up In Smoke 2’, a report issued by Oxfam, the New Economics Foundation and the Working Group on Climate Change and Development.

Download the report here: Download up_in_smoke_2.pdf .

Droughts are getting worse and climate uncertainty is growing, the research says. Arid or semi-arid areas in northern, western, eastern and parts of southern Africa are becoming drier, while equatorial Africa and other parts of southern Africa are getting wetter. The continent is, on average, 0.5C warmer than it was 100 years ago, but temperatures have risen much higher in some areas - such as a part of Kenya which has become 3.5C hotter in the past 20 years. The agencies say that greenhouse emissions cuts of 60% - 90% will ultimately be needed - way beyond the targets set in the Kyoto agreement.

If you want to make a difference, this is a good start.