Climate Change Triage

As the world’s population comes to grips with climate change disasters, it will become necessary to apply selectivity to resource allocation. Triage is applied in an emergency to allow the most globally beneficial use of inadequate resources. There will be severe climate disruptions, which will be left untreated because they will be recognized as able to recover autonomously. Selected climatically-induced emergencies where tax-payers’ money can reduce suffering will be funded. Last, and most sadly, there may be even situations where unlimited funds cannot reverse impacts and the limited funds are deemed better deployed on other projects.

The Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change decided in December 2007 to launch a comprehensive process to enable the full, effective and sustained implementation of this Convention. Among other actions, the Bali Roadmap states that Parties agree to “enhanced action on the provision of financial resources and investment to support action on mitigation and adaptation and technology cooperation.”

Discussions of responses to climate change, which to date have been focussed on mitigation (the reduction of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere) and adaptation (supporting communities to live in warmer and hydrologically more extreme climates), must now consider a fund/no fund response strategy. This website is dedicated to discussion of climate change triage.