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Dr. Aaron Thierry Profile picture
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Nov 6 • 9 tweets • 8 min read
Unreal! Its 2022 & I'm still listening to #LauraKuenssberg framing today's debate as "can we afford to solve the #climate crisis?"

It feels like we're stuck in groundhog day for the past 20yrs!

Here's a Climate Economics 101🧵:

@bbclaurak @BBCJustinR
@bbclaurak @BBCJustinR Does anyone remember @lordstern1's review on 'The Economics of #Climate Change' published by @hmtreasury back in 2006?

It found: "the costs of stabilising the #climate are significant but manageable; delay would be dangerous and much more costly"

2/n
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/…
@bbclaurak @BBCJustinR @lordstern1 @hmtreasury A few years later @lordstern1 candidly stated in an interview that “Looking back, I underestimated the risks... This is potentially so dangerous that we have to act strongly... These risks for many people are existential"

3/n
 climatechangenews.com/2013/01/28/nic…
So where do things stand now?

The @IPCC_CH is clear on the economic case for action.

As @davidrvetter summarising the IPCCs latest findings in @Forbes notes "the costs of inaction will outstrip the costs of action to the tune of trillions of dollars. 4/n
forbes.com/sites/davidrve…
Recent survey's of climate economists find an "overwhelming consensus: drastic, rapid action is warranted." 5/n

"...the Paris Agreement goal of net-zero carbon emissions will require investments in a green transition worth 2%-3% of world output each year until 2050, far less than the economic cost of inaction, according to a @Reuters poll of climate economists." 6/n
reuters.com/business/cop/c…
And tragically these economic costs-benefit calculations almost certainly UNDERESTIMATE the cost of climate inaction. As @ProfSteveKeen shows: 7/n

tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.108…
@ProfSteveKeen And they also almost certainly OVERESTIMATE the cost of climate action. New work by @oxmartinschool the real cost of solar energy dropped twice as fast as models predicted! 8/n

oxfordmartin.ox.ac.uk/news/decarboni…
It only makes sense to ask "can we afford to solve the climate crisis" if you're willing to ignore the expert consensus.

@bbclaurak & @BBCNews are way behind the curve on this. It's a profound disservice to their audience, which ultimately further delays climate action /END

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More from @ThierryAaron

Dr. Aaron Thierry Profile picture
Oct 27
An egregious example of #GreenhouseGaslighting by @bbcnickrobinson on @BBCr4today from yesterday morning.

Here's a short thread on why the @JustStop_Oil protestor is entirely correct in her assertions 🧵

@bbcnickrobinson @BBCr4today @JustStop_Oil Just a couple of days ago @IISD_news published a new report that showed there is a “large consensus” across all published studies that developing new oil and gas fields is “incompatible” with the 1.5C target...

carbonbrief.org/new-fossil-fue…
Here in the technical summary @IPCC_CH WG3 report from this April, signed off by all world governments, is the plain truth that meeting even the 2C climate target means the majority of fossil fuel reserves become stranded assets #CarbonBubble
Read 14 tweets
Dr. Aaron Thierry Profile picture
Oct 14
*Announcement*

In light of their decision to invite two notorious climate deniers to speak at their conference, I have decided I must withdraw from participating in the CC Forum "Investment in Sustainable Development" event in London next week london.cc-forum.com

🧵1/8 Image
Given the immense stakes & need for immediate climate action, I cannot in good conscience lend legitimacy to an event that would profile grifters who knowingly shill for fossil fuel polluters, even as millions have their lives & livelihoods destroyed by climate impacts 2/8
I was initially excited to speak at the event, billing itself as a “conference which is 100% dedicated to investment in sustainability”. But was horrified to subsequently discover Monckton & Morano added to the agenda. Both are infamous for spreading climate disinformation 3/8 Image
Read 9 tweets
Dr. Aaron Thierry Profile picture
Oct 13
These headlines on the latest @WWF @ZSLScience Living Planet Index are completely wrong and misrepresent the reports findings.

Here's a short thread on what the report actually show🧵
Before I begin, let me be completely clear: The destruction of nature is a massive threat, equal to that of the climate crisis.

It is vital that we reverse the losses to biodiversity, & that will require systems wide transformation to our economies! 2/n
theguardian.com/commentisfree/…
The @LPI_Science is is a measure of the state of the world's #biodiversity based on population trends of monitored vertebrate species globally.

The index shows a staggering and alarming decline since 1970 3/n
Read 11 tweets
Dr. Aaron Thierry Profile picture
Oct 11
I'd normally not bother wasting time on this nonsense from @benleo444, theres simply more important work than repeatedly putting to bed zombie climate denial talking points, but in solidarity with @JustStop_Oil protesters risking their liberty, here goes🧵
@benleo444 @JustStop_Oil Q1. “Why was there a warming period in the Roman times over a couple of hundred years, it was exceptionally warm and then it got cold. There wasn’t any industrial revolution?” 2/n
A. There was no global warm period in Roman times, it was a regional fluctuation due to variability in the climate system 3/n

nature.com/articles/s4158…
Read 22 tweets
Dr. Aaron Thierry Profile picture
Sep 15
Several people asked if I could share the slides from our #TippingPoints conference session. So I thought I'd put them up here too.

Thanks to all who took part. I look forward to working together to grow our understanding of social movements can accelerate tipping points🧵1/n
The importance of building powerful social movements with carefully targeted campaign goals came up repeatedly throughout the conference.... 2/n

Movements are a crucial to achieve social change, as it is not enough to just have evidence, or even to communicate it with compelling stories, you also need to build counter-power that can force change in the existing system 3/n
Read 13 tweets
Dr. Aaron Thierry Profile picture
Aug 29
I’m thrilled to announce @StuartBCapstick @EmilyCoxSussex @berglund_oscar @steviedubyu, @JKSteinberger & my new paper in @NatureClimate on why scientists should consider participating in civil disobedience to promote climate action.

Here's a short🧵1/15
nature.com/articles/s4155…
We all know #climate action is incredibly urgent, the @IPCC_CH reports tell us we have a 'rapidly closing window to secure a liveable & sustainable future for all’

Scientists have been issuing such warnings for years, but it's not leading to the necessary political action 2/15 Image
We also know that a key reason insufficient action is being taken are power structures within society, particularly the influence of vested interests seeking to maintain the status quo.

As reviewed in this paper by @IsakStoddard @KevinClimate et al: 3/15
annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.114…
Read 15 tweets

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