[pip08456]

Originally Posted by Damien

One thing the report mentioned is that we can stop it. That's pretty good news IMO.

Over the last 10 years, both politicians and the public have come to accept that it's an urgent problem that needs addressing. I remember that it used to be that you would hit a lot of scepticism that global warming was even happening, then it was 'it's happening but it isn't us' and I was expecting the final stage to be 'ok it was us but it's too late to do anything now'.

Perhaps but at ever increasing costs.

The world faces a growing paradox in the campaign to contain climate change. The harder it pushes the transition to a greener economy, the more expensive the campaign becomes, and the less likely it is to achieve the aim of limiting the worst effects of global warming.

New government-directed spending is driving up demand for materials needed to build a cleaner economy. At the same time, tightening regulation is limiting supply by discouraging investment in mines, smelters, or any source that belches carbon. The unintended result is “greenflation”: rising prices for metals and minerals such as copper, aluminium and lithium that are essential to solar and wind power, electric cars and other renewable technologies.

In the past, the transition to a new energy source provided a big boost to the old one. The advent of steam power inspired the makers of sailing ships to innovate more in 50 years than they had in the previous 300. Electricity had a similar impact on gas lighting. Now, building green economies will consume more oil in the transition period, but producers are not responding the same way because political and regulatory resistance has darkened the future of fossil fuels.

https://www.ft.com/content/49c19d8f-...9-50c7126076ee

Don't know if paywaiied, wasn't for me.