Climate and economic risks 'threaten 2008-style systemic collapse

The gathering storm of human-caused threats to climate, nature and economy pose a danger of systemic collapse comparable to the 2008 financial crisis, according to a new report that calls for urgent and radical reform to protect political and social systems.

Hurricane Florence in North Carolina in 2018. The report
 fears relentless floods and fires in the US could threaten
financial institutions.

The study says the combination of global warming, soil infertility, pollinator loss, chemical leaching and ocean acidification is creating a “new domain of risk”, which is hugely underestimated by policymakers even though it may pose the greatest threat in human history.

“A new, highly complex and destabilised ‘domain of risk’ is emerging – which includes the risk of the collapse of key social and economic systems, at local and potentially even global levels,” warns the paper from the Institute for Public Policy Research. “This new risk domain affects virtually all areas of policy and politics, and it is doubtful that societies around the world are adequately prepared to manage this risk.”

Until recently, most studies of environmental risk tended to examine threats in isolation: climate scientists examined disruption to weather systems, biologists focused on ecosystem loss and economists calculated potential damages from intensifying storms and droughts. But a growing body of research is assessing how the interplay of these factors can create a cascade of tipping points in human society as well as the natural world.

Read the story from The Guardian by Jonathon Watts - “Climate and economic risks 'threaten 2008-style systemic collapse.”

We banned cigarette ads - now we should ban car ads, too

A ban on car advertising may seem far-fetched, but if you compare the automotive and the tobacco industries, the similarities may be closer than you think. Smoking and car use have comparable health costs, yet while we have the strictest tobacco promotion laws in the world, we allow car companies to promote themselves unbridled.

Britain recently estimated that they could save themselves
£1.6 billion in health costs if they copied the Dutch approach to cycling.

Smoking accounts for around 15,000 deaths and an estimated cost to the economy of $31.5 billion each year. Car accidents alone cost the economy an only slightly smaller $29.7 billion, but this does not include the significant health costs of air pollution and inactivity resulting from car use. Around 1300 people die and 32,000 are seriously injured in vehicle accidents each year. And while the vast majority of smoking-related deaths occur in those aged over 65, road trauma destroys young lives. It is the leading cause of death for people aged 15 to 29. Even more damning, however, is the little-known fact that the premature deaths from the road toll may be dwarfed by those from vehicle emissions.

Read the comment by Arwen Birtch from The Age - “We banned cigarette ads - now we should ban car ads, too.”

Coal industry campaign dwarfs political spending by green groups

The mining lobby poured nearly $5 million into political campaigning last financial year, dwarfing comparable spending by environmental groups.

Federal Treasurer Scott Morrison shows off a lump
of black coal during question time last year.

The little-known ACA Low Emissions Technologies - lobbyists for the coal industry - spent $3.6 million on advertising campaigns in the 12 months after the last federal election, as the political debate about energy policy raged.

Read Adam Gartrell’s story in today’s Age - “Coal industry campaign dwarfs political spending by green groups.”