The Politics of Climate Change

Abstract

The literature on the causes of climate change as well as its consequences has exploded in the last several years. Based on a growing body of evidence many governments as well as leading scientific groups are subscribing to the notion that warming is caused by human activities through rising emissions of ‘greenhouse gases’. This position contends that global warming can be expected to proceed further unless effective measures are put in place. Furthermore, that the unconstrained rise in global temperatures would increasingly carry with it serious risks – with the possibility of catastrophic outcomes. The policy prescriptions are clear: prompt, sustained and worldwide government action is called for to limit the extent of warming and deal with its possible consequences. The action would chiefly take the form of mitigation – that is of measures to curb emissions of greenhouse gases in general and CO2 in particular. This position is increasingly dubbed by many as the new conventional wisdom on climate change.