鈥淣EGLIGIBLE鈥�. That鈥檚 what the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says the cost of limiting long-term global warming would be. 鈥淲e won鈥檛 notice it,鈥� says Simon Retallack, head of climate change at the Institute for Public Policy Research, a UK-based think tank.
The IPCC鈥檚 latest report, released on 4 May, says that if stringent measures are taken now to stabilise greenhouse gas concentrations at between 445 and 535 parts per million (ppm) by 2030, global economic growth will slow by only 0.12 per cent per year. This would mean a total cost of 3 per cent of global GDP. However, James Connaughton of President Bush鈥檚 White House Council on Environmental Quality said this would result in a global recession.
鈥淎t what level are we going to stop accepting the damage?鈥� asks Saleem Huq of the International Institute for Environment and Development, London. 鈥淲e have already accepted a certain level. Some species will disappear, some people will lose their lives. The level we now set as a target for capping greenhouse-gas concentrations will decide how much more we lose.鈥�
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