Media Release, 4 March 2009
Flexibility essential in climate change management

New Zealand Prime Minister John Key's statement that flexibility is essential to managing climate change is actually a very good idea, says Dr Dave Frame, Deputy Director of the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment at Oxford University. "Climate change is a global, centennial-scale problem that will require a coordinated, long-term response. The impacts of climate change are unlikely to be bang in line with our current best guesses, so of course we will need to learn as we go. It's a point that isn't made often enough."

"While there is overwhelming evidence that climate change is a major cause for concern, inflexible policy responses only make things worse. Current generations know less about climate change and the costs of emissions reduction that those who will come after us," says Dr Frame. "Building inflexible targets or trying to lock us rigidly in to development pathways on the basis of today's uncertain knowledge is therefore a high risk strategy - one that our descendents probably won't thank us for."

"What we really need is the development of low carbon infrastructure, clear regulatory signals so that business can plan ahead, coupled with processes that let us revise our targets intelligently as we work towards a future in which our descendents enjoy both higher standards of living and lower carbon consumption."

ENDS

http://www.smithschool.ox.ac.uk/people/research_fellows/rf/dr_david_frame