Bishop Tutu: We must address climate change to prevent a massive humanitarian crisis

Moral aspect of climate change can’t be ignored

March 26, 2009
ARCHBISHOP DESMOND TUTU AND JAMES LEAPE, DIRECTOR GENERAL, WWF INTERNATIONAL

[NOTE: On Saturday, March 28, hundreds of millions of people around the world joined together in what has been described as a vote for the planet. From New York to Beijing, from Cape Town to Paris, citizens turned their lights off for 60 minutes to demand action on climate change.]

We are used to seeing climate change discussed in both environmental and economic terms. The impacts on the planet are all too obvious: melting polar ice caps, drought and rising sea levels have become the depressing staple of our daily news for several years.

More recently, talk has turned to the economics of climate change, the costs of keeping it manageable and the costs if we don’t. The trillions of dollars in stimulus packages now being put in place are seen as a chance to invest in sustainable green technologies and production, which will not only help build a low-carbon future but will kick-start growth and safeguard jobs.

But there is another dimension to the climate change debate that does not tend to get as much attention as the environmental and economic impacts — and that is the moral imperative we all share to prevent a massive humanitarian crisis. Global warming is not just an ecological and financial dilemma, it is an ethical one that opens up unsettling questions about justice, fairness, responsibilities and obligations.

When the world’s leaders meet in Copenhagen in December to agree on a global climate deal to replace the weak Kyoto Protocol, they will know that the eyes of the world are upon them. We expect them to do the right thing. That means agreeing on a deal that is ambitious, achievable and also equitable. A fair deal in Copenhagen must be based on the “polluter pays” principle: those most responsible for climate damage must accept their obligations and bear most of the cost.

(Continued here.)