Nicholas Stern comments on outcome of COP22

Commenting on the outcome of the 22nd session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP22) in Marrakech, Morocco, Professor Lord Stern of Brentford, Chair of the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment and the ESRC Centre for Climate Change Economics and Policy at the London School of Economics and Political Science and President of the British Academy, said: “Countries have taken a significant step forward in Marrakech towards realising the goals of the Paris Agreement. The entry into force of the Paris Agreement on 4 November, less than a year after it was signed, is an indication of its strength, founded, in large measure, on the conviction that a low-carbon strategy is both the growth story of the future and a powerful means of boosting growth in the shorter term. While the election of Mr Trump has created some understandable uncertainty about future policy in the United States, countries remain highly committed to the Paris Agreement, as the Marrakech Action Proclamation makes clear. There have been some challenging discussions in Marrakech about difficult issues, such as the role of the Adaptation Fund, but there has been some notable progress. One of the highlights of this summit has been the launch of the ‘2050 pathways platform’ to support countries, states, regions, cities and companies in devising long-term pathways towards net zero emissions, climate-resilience and sustainable development. Countries are planning for, and committing to, a very attractive future. This summit has also featured, for the first time, substantive discussions between finance ministers and financial institutions about how to accelerate the transition to low-carbon and climate-resilient economic development and growth. I hope that we will see a commitment by the development banks to double their investments in sustainable infrastructure over the next five years, as part of this acceleration. It is clear from this summit that there is widespread understanding of the attractiveness of boosting economic growth and development through investments in modern, clean and smart infrastructure. I expect further progress over the next year ahead of the next summit in Bonn, Germany, as the world continues to implement the Paris Agreement.”

For more information about this media release, please contact Bob Ward at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at the London School of Economics and Political Science: r.e.ward@lse.ac.uk 

NOTES FOR EDITORS

1. Lord Stern is chair of the ESRC Centre for Climate Change Economics and Policy and the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment and, as well as I.G. Patel Professor of Economics and Government, at the London School of Economics and Political Science. Since July 2013, Lord Stern has been President of the British Academy for the humanities and social sciences. Lord Stern was with HM Treasury between October 2003 and May 2007. He served as Second Permanent Secretary and Head of the Government Economic Service, head of the review of the economics of climate change (the results of which were published in ‘The Economics of Climate Change: The Stern Review’ in October 2006), and director of policy and research for the Commission for Africa. His previous posts included Senior Vice-President and Chief Economist at the World Bank, and Chief Economist and Special Counsellor to the President at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. Baron Stern of Brentford was introduced in December 2007 to the House of Lords, where he sits on the independent cross-benches. He was recommended as a non-party-political life peer by the UK House of Lords Appointments Commission in October 2007.

2. The ESRC Centre for Climate Change Economics and Policy (https://www.cccep.ac.uk/) is hosted by the University of Leeds and the London School of Economics and Political Science. It is funded by the UK Economic and Social Research Council (https://www.esrc.ac.uk/). The Centre’s mission is to advance public and private action on climate change through rigorous, innovative research.

3. The Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment (https://www.lse.ac.uk/grantham) was launched at the London School of Economics and Political Science in October 2008. It is funded by The Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment (https://www.granthamfoundation.org/).