COP19 (18/11/13) – Lord Nicholas Stern, The London School of Economics and Political Science talks about why the costs and risks associated with climate change inaction will be severe.

He says although technology has moved fast over the past six years, we are still moving too slowly. Stern says we are cutting emissions per units of output across the world by less than 1% per annum but we need to be cutting it by 5% per annum, every year, for the rest of the century. The process, Stern says, is too slow.

Stern says we have to invest and have far more serious policies. This will lead to a cleaner, more energy secure and biodiverse world and will fundamentally reduce the risks associated with climate change.

He says that climate sceptics are wrong and governments who are scaling down their climate ambition, such as Australia, Canada and Japan, are irresponsible.

Stern says, the world is investing approximately $1 trillion every year around climate orientated investments but the biggest deterrent to investment is fluctuating government policies.