Dr Nicholas Stern was formerly the World Bank¿s chief economist, so he has huge experience of faulty forecasts. His 2006 review has become the most influential global warming report, embraced by the Blair and Brown governments. He appeared to bring hard¿sounding economic calculations into the world of scientific predictions and guesses. <BR/>Yet his report is now wholly discredited. Dr. Richard Tol, Principal Researcher at the Institute for Environmental Studies at Vrije Universiteit, and Adjunct Professor at the Center for Integrated Study of the Human Dimensions of Global Change, at Carnegie Mellon University, called it `preposterous¿.<BR/>Crucially, Stern estimated the cost of additional carbon emissions as $29 a ton, as against Tol¿s conclusion that the costs were `likely to be substantially smaller¿ than $14 a ton. Tol said, ¿In sum, the Stern Review is very selective in the studies it quotes on the impacts of climate change. The selection bias is not random, but emphasises the most pessimistic studies ... Results are occasionally misinterpreted. The report claims that a cost-benefit analysis was done, but none was carried out. The Stern Review can therefore be dismissed as alarmist and incompetent.¿
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"The Stern Review shows us, with utmost clarity, while allowing fully for all the uncertainties, what global warming is going to mean; and what can and should be done to reduce it. It provides numbers for the economic impact, and for the necessary economic policies. It deserves the widest circulation. I wish it the greatest possible impact. Governments have a clear and immediate duty to accept the challenge it represents."James Mirrlees, recipient of the Nobel Prize for Economics, 1996
"...a comprehensive overview of the threat posed by climate change - and how we should respond to it...Sir Nicholas Stern spells out a bleak vision of a future gripped by violent storms, rising sea-levels, crippling droughts and economic chaos unless urgent action is taken to tackle global warming...a heavyweight review...Sir Nicholas Stern's review of the economic impact of global warming is a watershed. The former World Bank chief economist has put a price-tag on saving the planet...Sir Nicholas is a sober and respected economist, which makes his findings all the more chilling."
The Daily Telegraph
"The overwhelming message of...[the] Stern review on the economics of climate change is that it is now time to move on from arguing about statistics to taking drastic action at an international level...Even if Stern is only half right then...the consequence of doing nothing is still so dreadful that it ought not to be contemplated."
The Guardian
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