COP19 (20/11/13) – Kevin Anderson, Tyndall Centre talks about why wrestling climate change away from economists can help drive policy-makers away from economic arguments and bring emissions down.

He says since the first major scientific report on climate change came out in 1990, the world’s emissions have risen every year and are almost 70% higher then they were. In addition, since 2007, we have pumped 200 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. As a result, Anderson says we have squandered most of the carbon budget that was created to tackle climate change in 1992.

He says most of the emissions come from a small proportion of the population. As a result, we need to look at persuading this group of people to reduce their emissions. For example, he says we need to make household products, such as refrigerators and cars, more efficient.

Anderson also says that it is unreasonable to expect poorer countries not to develop as wealthier countries have done, but that we should encourage them to look to low carbon energy systems. In fact, he says wealthier countries should pay the difference in the price between high and low carbon energy options to poorer countries because it is their moral responsibility.