London's policy on climate change should begin in Beijing

20 Oct 2011

Speakers: Vicky Pryce, Simon Zadek, George Monbiot, Malcolm Grimston, Marcus Mabry

This debate took place at the Royal Society on 20th October 2011. Full video is available on our YouTube channel, and full audio is available on the player below.

Event info:

If a windmill is about to blight your cherished view of the green English countryside, you might start to wonder why on earth the Department for Energy and Climate Change thinks it is a good idea to subsidise the monsters at vast cost to the British taxpayer. Why not retune some boilers in Guangdong instead? Or encourage the booming cities of China to power themselves with gas, not coal? There’s a whole raft of practical, carbon-saving steps which can be more cheaply achieved in the growing, bustling emerging world. After all, a ton of carbon saved in China is as good in global terms as a ton saved in the UK. So why ever spoil our green and pleasant land?

Hang on, though. Wasn’t the “green new deal” all about creating jobs in a new sort of economy? Making Britain a leader in an industry of the future? Not to mention making us just a little less dependent for our energy on geopolitically unstable regions of the world. Make China the focus of all our policy effort, and it will be China that reaps the knock-on benefits. Why would we realistically agree to that?

Speakers for the motion

Simon Zadek

Senior Fellow, Centre for International Governance Innovation, and advisor on sustainability issues to the World Economic Forum
Vicky Pryce

Senior Managing Director at FTI Consulting, former Director General, Economics & Chief Economic Adviser, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

Chair

Marcus Mabry

Editor-at-large at the International Herald Tribune

Speakers against the motion

Malcolm Grimston

Honorary Fellow at Imperial College London Centre for Environmental Policy
George Monbiot

Guardian columnist and author of Heat: how to stop the planet burning