The challengesof global warming 325take all practical steps to promote, facilitate and finance, as appropriate,
the transfer of, or access to, environmentally sound technologies and
know-how to other Parties, particularly developing country Parties, to
enable them to implement the provisions of the Convention.’
There are also new challenges foreconomists; for instance, that of ad-
equately representing environmental costs (especially including those
‘costs’ that cannot be valued in terms of money) and the value of
‘natural’ capital, especially when it is of a global kind – as mentioned
in Chapter 9. There is the furtherproblem of dealing fairly with all
countries. No country wants to be put at a disadvantage economically
because it has taken its responsibilities with respect to global warm-
ing more seriously than others. As economic and other instruments
(for instance, taxes, subsidies, capping and trading arrangements, reg-
ulations or other measures) are devised to provide the incentives for
appropriate action regarding global warming by governments or by
individuals, these must be seen to be both fair and effective for all na-
tions. Economists working with politicians and decision makers need
to find imaginative solutions which recognise not just environmental
concerns but political realities.
There is an important role forcommunicators and educators.Every-
body in the world is involved in climate change so everybody needs
to be properly informed about it. They require to understand the evi-
dence for it, its causes, the distribution of its impacts and the action
that can be taken to alleviate them. Climate change is a complex topic;
the challenge to educators and the media is to inform in ways that are
understandable, comprehensive, honest and balanced.
All countries will need to adapt to the climate change that applies
in their region. For many developing countries this will not be easy
because of increased floods, droughts or significant rise in sea level.
Reductions in risks from disasters are some of the most important
adaptation strategies. A challenge foraid agenciestherefore is to pre-
pare for more frequent and intense disasters in vulnerable countries;
the International Red Cross has already taken the lead in this.^2Finally, it is important to recognise that the problem is not only global
but long-term – the time scales of climate change, of major infrastruc-
ture change in energy generation or transport or of major changes in
programmes such as forestry are of the order of several decades. The
programme of action must therefore be seen as both urgent and evolving,
based on the continuing scientific, technical and economic assessments.
As the IPCC 1995 Report states, ‘The challenge is not to find the best
policy today for the next 100 years, but to select a prudent strategy and
to adjust it over time in the light of new information’.^3