Fighting Climate Change = Fighting Poverty

Opponents of drastic action on climate change often cite the cost of most measures to combat global warming and the fact that much of that cost will fall upon the poor.  While the costs are indeed high, World Bank President Jim Kim notes that inaction is much worse for the world’s poor

“We must also ensure that economic growth in the years ahead is sustainable and takes us off the destructive path of climate change,” Kim said. “Climate change could reverse hard-won development gains and could stop our end-poverty efforts completely. We can’t end poverty unless we take serious steps to protect our planet.”

The wealthy will always find ways to cope.  The billions of people who will be hurt by a warming planet are already those who are in the worst shape.

By: Stuart Shapiro

Stuart is a professor and the Director of the Public Policy
program at the Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers
University. He teaches economics and cost-benefit analysis and studies
regulation in the United States at both the federal and state levels.
Prior to coming to Rutgers, Stuart worked for five years at the Office
of Management and Budget in Washington under Presidents Clinton and
George W. Bush.