Colin Robinson speech

Climate change and the conventional wisdom

To summarise and conclude, it seems to me that, in practice, if damaging man-made climate change is in prospect, the only real hope of avoiding the damage is through market responses: the chances of effective welfare-improving action by governments and international bodies seem to me very low. A big advantage of relying on markets is their flexibility and adaptability. Views about global warming will change. It may appear a more serious issue than now, in which case markets will enhance the profitability of `greenery’, so reacting in the `right’ direction. Or it may seem less serious, so that `greenery’ starts to go out of fashion and the market again reacts in the right direction. Can we be so confident that the big centralised programmes now being urged by the climate change alarmists would show a similar degree of adaptability to changing circumstances? They are all too likely to set communities on courses which are very difficult to change as the views of climate scientists change.

So, putting it very simply, if the world is in danger from climate change (one way or the other), the best hope of salvation is action by the guilt-ridden middle classes. That category probably describes most people in this room. So make a start by getting a rickshaw to the station tomorrow!