Pirate's Cove

Remember, this is all about science, not government controlling people’s lives and taking their money

Cop28: how to fight climate change when we don’t even have a commander?

Whether we care about the battle against climate change, we are all going to have to help pay for it – either directly through higher taxes or indirectly through having part of our savings and investment diverted to the fight.

As things are, we pay taxes and then assume we’ve done our bit in battling global warming but much of the money we invest (or which is invested on our behalf) in stock markets will also need to be diverted to the fight.

At least Warmist Anthony Rowley admits it’s about taking your money

How can a universal challenge such as global warming possibly be met by anything other than a coordinated global response? The logical answer is that it can’t, but logic stands little chance against politics and nationalism.

Unfortunately, such critical factors were largely ignored or obscured in the torrent of words and reports flowing from the Cop28 United Nations climate change meeting in Dubai, which has had more of a commercial than conference-like atmosphere.

It would be comical, were it not potentially tragic, that we are entering an existential battle – that’s not too strong a term – against climate change with no clear idea of how much it’s going to cost, who’s going to pay and who’s in charge.

Let them pay for it themselves if they believe so much

ESG (environmental, social and corporate governance) investing and the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals will not cut it, nor will the hollow promise of the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ) to put up big money. We are talking multitrillion, not multibillion, sums.

Such sums can only come from our savings, which are entrusted to pension funds, insurance companies, mutual funds and the like, and invested in stock markets. But that will require new listed investment vehicles dedicated to financing the climate change fight.

Either that or having multilateral development banks, such as the World Bank and regional development banks, issue securities into which savings can be directed. Whichever way, the world needs to get real and serious about the climate issue.

Surprise? Remember this from 2019

Another emerging theme from the survey is that people do not want to spend their own money to combat climate change. Thirty-seven percent do not want to pay any additional taxes, and only 14 percent are willing to pay even $1 more a month.

And this

For example, while nearly half of adults say they would be willing to pay a $2 monthly tax on their electricity bills to help combat climate change, just over a quarter say they are willing to pay $10 extra each month. And while two-thirds support stricter fuel-efficiency standards for the nation’s cars and trucks, increases in the gas tax remain deeply unpopular.

They should do more polls today, see if Warmists are willing to pony up their own money.