Investors managing more than $13 trillion in assets called for new global emissions laws Wednesday, illustrating how the issue has divided even groups that traditionally have opposed new curbs.
Speaking at the International Investor Forum on Climate Change, Lord Nicholas Stern, among Britain's most influential economists, said the global debate over curbing greenhouse gases has reached a critical point.
If the U.S. does not pass substantial climate legislation, few believe other nations, particularly developing countries, will cut emissions on their own.
"We have to act now," said Stern, chair of the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at the London School of Economics. "Some things you can postpone. This is not one of them."
Stern three years ago issued an influential report on the global costs of climate change. Greenhouse gases from burning coal and other fossil fuels are blamed for global warming.
He supports the cap-and-trade system that was passed in the U.S. House in June. The new cap-and-trade rules would, for the first time, place national limits on the amount of carbon dioxide that companies can release into the atmosphere.
The eventual cost to businesses and consumers is at the heart of what has become an intense informational and lobbying campaign on both sides. Environmentalists and some money managers see cap-and-trade as the best way to control carbon emissions, while oil refiners warn the House bill could make foreign petroleum products cheaper and lead to even more imports.
How the U.S. will proceed on climate change legislation was a major topic at the World Economic Forum in China last week, and it is expected to be discussed in coming days when President Barack Obama speaks at a ministerial meeting of the U.N. General Assembly.
Todd Stern, the U.S. State Department's special envoy for climate change, said last week that it's crucial for the Senate to pass a climate bill. Doing so would give the U.S. the "credibility and leverage" needed to persuade other countries like China and India to cut their pollution.
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