La Stern Review : le parti pris de l'action face au risque climatique

The Stern Review constitutes today the most complete and didactic synthesis of the economics of climate change. Despite appearances, it is not, however, a simple reference manual. Its most attractive feature is the author?s commitment to action in the face of climactic risk. The report?s principle recommendation is the implementation of an international emission permit market permitting the coordination of action guided by the different countries. Such a mechanism, which is not recommended for use in uncertain situation within classical economics, appears to be the only option acceptable to a sufficiently large coalition of actors. Nevertheless, to be efficient, such a market must only be a single component of a larger political approach, further including technological innovation, solidarity with the southern countries and the financing of collective infrastructure, most notably in terms of urbanization, public transportation and adaptation to the climatic conditions of tomorrow.