The article in the url link below from BusinessWeek provides some relief from all the doom and gloom about climate change (Issues: Environmental Sustainability, p171). More specifically, it emphasizes the importance of selecting the correct discount rate and set of underlying assumptions in determining the costs of correcting huge social problems, such as climate change:
“… a new analysis from McKinsey & Co. not only pegs the price tag for making substantial cuts at just a few billion dollars, it also shows that at least 40% of the reductions bring actual savings to the economy, not costs.”
I would like to see some external validation of McKinsey’s methodology, and the report only deals with US emissions, rather than also tackling the problematic issue of emissions and economic growth in the developing world, but, if correct, this report presents climate change as a manageable project, rather than an all-or-nothing calamity. As such, it holds out hope that global action can be mobilized.
Take care
Dave
Bill Werther & David Chandler
Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility
© Sage Publications, 2006
http://www.sagepub.com/Werther
Business Week Online
Insider Newsletter
December 07, 2007
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The Real Costs of Saving the Planet
Critics say limiting carbon emissions could cost trillions. But a new study suggests the costs are much lower.
by John Carey
http://newsletters.businessweek.com/c.asp?685460&c55a2ee820194f0f&2
