One of the most influential international economic is calling for a bigger push to combat climate change. The Secretary-General of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Angel GurrÃa, gave a talk this week (above) advocating for greater international effort to reach a sustainable economy in regards to the environment. He argued that we need to think beyond national policy agendas in order to curb global emissions and reduce climate risks.
It’s fantastic to see a conservative organization like the OECD openly calling for nations around the world to get one board with an economy that doesn’t kill the planet.
Mr Gurria said the risks of stranded communities as well as of stranded assets would increase if policy action was delayed. While rapid advances in technology would continue to drive the transformation, he said, “the pace and scale of the transformation required to meet the Paris goals cannot be achieved without the positive feedbacks between strong government policies and the transformative potential of non-state actors.”
Mr Gurrria said economic conditions in many countries provide a window of opportunity to take action now to boost growth and investment that will drive the transition to a prosperous and inclusive low-emissions, resilient future. Ambitious climate policy is simply good policy, he said, adding that: “Governments should move faster to phase out fossil fuel subsidies, which still amount to around half a trillion dollars a year”.
One thought on “OECD Wants International Action Against Climate Change”
What strips the OECD of credibility is that it’s an advocate for perpetual, exponential growth. Adam, we’re already consuming our planet’s finite resources at 1.7 times the Earth’s carrying capacity. It’s called “eating your seed corn.” We’re robbing from the future to satisfy demand today.
This is indisputable, Adam. The evidence is everywhere. It’s visible to the naked eye from the viewing cupola on the International Space Station – desertification, deforestation, dried-up lakes and rivers that no longer reach the sea. NASA’s Grace Satellite system records surface subsidence from aquifers that are now emptying from over use. We see it in the collapse of global fisheries as the industrial fishing fleet “fishes down the food chain” exhausting one species after another.
Sustainable growth is a marketing device, a ploy. We need to shrink our economy, not grow it. No economy can be larger than its environment, its ecology. It can for a while, and that’s the point we’re now at, but not for long. Once the economy grows larger than its environment it begins cannibalizing its environment.
Earth, our one and only biosphere, operates like a spaceship, Adam. If you’re on a two month mission but you consume all of your food and water and oxygen in one month it’s not going to end well.
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