South African Climate Action Network

It is generally accepted that in order to avoid the most extreme impacts of climate change we will need to keep global mean temperature increases below 2˚ C above pre-industrial levels. The most recent addition to the IPCC AR4 report concludes that in order to achieve this objective, global greenhouse gas levels should peak by 2015 and then fall to 50 to 85 percent of 2000 levels by 2050.

Sir Nicholas Stern, the former Chief Economist of the World Bank, supports this call for immediate action. The Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change clearly establishes the economic case for rapid action to reduce emissions. He calls for a global investment of about 1% of global gross domestic product (GDP) per year over the next 50 years. He compares this to a possible 5 - 20% knock to global GDP under a scenario of inaction (business as usual).

Two areas of action are needed to respond to climate change: adaptation and mitigation.