Making development more sustainable will help address climate change

Mohan Munasinghe, Vice Chair of the Geneva-based Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and Chairman of Munasinghe Institute for Development (MIND).

Finance & Development - March 2008, Volume 45, Number 1

Available online at:  http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2008/03/munasinghe.htm

“……..Global warming is already taking its toll. In Darfur , where several hundred thousand people have died in recent years from the internal conflict, climate change has exacerbated water and land shortages (because of growing desertification), undermined agriculture, and fueled conflict over these scarce resources among the poor. On the opposite side of the globe, many Pacific islands (and the Maldives) that are often only centimeters above sea level are threatened with inundation by rising seas. In the distant north, melting of the sea ice is affecting polar wildlife and undermining the already precarious livelihoods of native peoples.

These grim harbingers of climate change underline the need to better understand the phenomenon and address the consequences….”

“…..In recent months, three developments—the release of the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report, the awarding of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize to the IPCC and Al Gore, and the December 2007 Bali conference of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change—have combined to raise the profile of climate change and helped to highlight the difficulties that policymakers face in coming to grips with this important challenge. Although there is a growing consensus worldwide on the need to take early action on climate change, important practical issues remain unresolved, including burden sharing and equity….”