TalkClimateChange

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown was heavily criticised by Green protestors this week after stating his support for an additional runway at London Heathrow airport. But in this case, we think that Gordon Brown “Climate Change (taxation) Action Man” has got it right, and that an additional runway at Heathrow will do more to combat climate change than many other pointless initiatives that we have seen so far.

The reality is that people need to fly. Global travel is needed to support global trade. The world is growing richer mostly as a result such trade. And a richer world is more able to make the significant investments required to move our economy away from fossil fuels, and to support populations that need to deal with the effects of climate change. Continuing to strangle London’s financial industries with poor infrastructure won’t help anybody.

It will likely be wealthy, successful businesses that end up taking the biggest leads in tackling climate change. Witness Google’s commitment to green energy this week, which dwarfs most government plans. Witness also the communiqué signed by over 150 global firms this week calling for a legally binding framework to tackle climate change. What we see here is commitment and action - which has been in short supply from most governments. Shouldn’t we therefore allow businesses to get their customers in and out of London efficiently?

In the coming days, hundreds of politicians, aides, and journalists will fly to Bali to attend the Climate Summit Meeting. The likely outcome of this Summit will be a plan to discuss further plans to potentially implement measures which may go some way towards tackling climate change. By staying at home and holding their summit by video conference this group could easily set an example to business leaders, and reduce congestion at Heathrow airport at the same time.