Climate change 'brings huge cost'

Climate change could end up cutting global growth by as much as a fifth unless drastic action is taken, a key report obtained by the BBC has warned.
But taking action now would cost just 1% of global gross domestic product, economist Sir Nicholas Stern said.
Without action up to 200 million people could become refugees as their homes are hit by drought or flood, he added.
An international plan to tackle climate change is needed to prevent a global recession, the UK review said.
"On the basis of Sir Nicholas Stern's report, we would be crazy not to take action," said the BBC Business Editor Robert Peston.
"Stern calculates that not doing anything would be a reduction in the value of the global economy of 20% - we would all be a fifth poorer as a result of climate change - which he says would be as big a shock as we would get from a global war."
The study will spark a fierce political debate on green taxation as this is the first major contribution to the global warming debate by an economist, rather than a scientist.
'Environmental price'
Already Environment Secretary David Miliband is considering a range of taxes designed to change people's behaviour to offset global warming.
Meanwhile, the Conservative Party said it was examining the possibility of taxing air travel.
The Stern Review forecasts that 1% of global gross domestic product (GDP) must be spent on tackling climate change immediately.
Stern comes up with the stark conclusion that if we do nothing to stem climate change, there could be a permanent reduction in consumption per head of 20%
Robert Peston, BBC Business Editor
Review issues stern warning
Failure to act early could end up costing between 5% and 20% of global GDP and render large parts of the planet uninhabitable with poor nations hit first and hardest.
Green taxes, carbon trading schemes and changing behaviour will help reduce the effect of climate change - but any schemes should encompass the globe, the report added.
Unilateral moves would not be enough, Sir Nicholas added. For example, if the UK shut down all of its power stations tomorrow, the reduction in global emissions would be wiped out in just over a year by increased emissions from China.
'Urgent deal needed'
The review calls on the international community to sign a new pact on greenhouse emissions by next year rather than in 2010/11 when they had planned to agree a successor to the Kyoto agreement on cutting carbon dioxide and other gas emissions.
Even if immediate action is taken to cut pollution, slow acting greenhouse gases will continue to have an effect on the environment for another 30 years, it adds.
Action groups and development agencies have welcomed the review and urged the government to take action to protect poor countries from the effects of climate change.
"Poor communities, who have contributed least to climate change, are suffering the most from its effects. Current efforts to respond to climate change are simply not urgent enough," said Tearfund Advocacy Director, Andy Atkins.
Christian Aid added it hoped the review would focus world leaders' attention on the need for urgent action to tackle climate change.
"This is an issue far more important than mere economics. People's lives are already being ruined by climate change and millions more are facing cataclysmic change for the worse," said the group's senior climate change analyst, Andrew Pendleton.