#21: An Economic Crash for Climate Safety

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One of the UK’s leading climate policy researchers has concluded we need a planned economic contraction if we are to have any chance of avoiding catastrophic climate change. We take a look at some of the links between the credit crunch and the climate crunch with Tim Helweg-Larsen, director of the Public Interest Research Centre and co-author of the “Zero Carbon Britain” & “Climate Safety” reports. There’s also an appearance by Kevin Anderson (Research Director at the Tyndall Centre) and a live performance of the “Global Meltdown Derby” by Irish poet Grassy Noel.

• Might a planned or unplanned economic contraction be our best hope of achieving climate safety?
• What does the UK need to do right now to start leading from the front and change the game at the UN talks in Copenhagen later this year?
• Should we be focusing on demand management policies and move to a steady-state economy as soon as possible?
• If so, is carbon rationing our best tool for swift action on climate change?
• When will the UK realize that we have an offshore renewable energy goldmine just waiting for us to tap?

• Global Downturn Could Halve Emissions
• Eurozone and German GDP falls (The Times, 16 May 2009)
  
• The Case for Harnessing Renewable Energy – Tim Helweg-Larsen & Tim Holmes (The Ecologist, April 2009)
  
• Public Interest Research Centre
• Grassy Noel
  
• Shell to Sea
  
• Shell vs. Ken Saro-Wiwa