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Media Advisory

Sir Nicholas Stern, leading UK economist, warns of economic downturn from global warming
 

26 March 2007

ATTENTION: Reporters covering global warming

Contact: Sarah Yang, Media Relations
(510) 643-7741 scyang@berkeley.edu


WHAT
"The Economics of Climate Change: Is tackling climate change a pro-growth strategy for California?" - a talk by Sir Nicholas Stern, head of the United Kingdom Government Economic Service and author of the highly regarded report, the "Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change." The College of Natural Resources at the University of California, Berkeley, is hosting the lecture, which is free and open to the public.

Stern will explain how inaction on climate change could lead to the kind of economic downturn that has not been seen since the Great Depression and the two world wars. He will also address investment in low carbon energy sources, issues of international competition and the importance of China and other emerging economies.

A Q&A session will follow the lecture. There will be a live webcast of the event at: http://webcast.berkeley.edu.

WHEN
5-6 p.m. Friday, March 30

WHERE
155 Dwinelle Hall, UC Berkeley

WHO
Prior to heading the U.K. Government Economic Service, Stern held numerous distinguished posts, including a term as the chief economist and senior vice president of the World Bank from 2000 to 2003, and as chief economist and special counselor to the president of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development from 1994 to 1999.

DETAILS
The 700-page Stern Review was released in October 2006 and is considered by policy analysts and economists to be one of the most comprehensive reports of its kind. The report says that an investment of 1 percent of global gross domestic product (GDP) each year is needed to stabilize greenhouse gas emissions.

The report estimates that "if we don't act, the overall costs and risks of climate change will be equivalent to losing at least 5 percent of global GDP each year, now and forever."

The report is available online at: http://www.sternreview.org.uk.

 

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