Election recession fever; but the cold comes from climate change

As winter wanes and election fever spreads from Arkansas to Madrid. In the UK, word on the street - and around Westminster, is that no amount of depression is going to halt the Climate change agenda. Climate change, emissions, and an emphasis on Carbon trading are going to dominate the political legislative calendar for the next generation. Are businesses ready for this change?

Unfortunately the answer to this is no. In the UK all three political parties subscribed, in the early motions of electioneering, to the notion that Climate change was the most important topic under consideration. With the new credit squeeze topping the agenda it is likely to be the short term failure of most governments to provide for possible recession that takes the headlines.

This does not mean that Climate change is off the agenda. In fact longer term it is still there as an unstoppable rollercoaster of directives, regulations and statutes. These will inevitably spread around the globe - first in the more civilised countires of Europe. The UK with its Scottish Political insistence on correctness will no doubt be first. Then perhaps those global countries with most to lose like Australia and Spain - which are due to lose some 30-40% of useful land to desert within the next twenty years.

There is an underlying current of knowledge that our planet is of first importance and business will have to fall victim eventually to the machinations of political will inspired by popular culture. It is this practice of emission control and subsequent compliance that businesses must meet in their costs: must prepare for.

Of course the costs of Climate control can be off-set by new business - in the past while the world economies were growing this has been easy to do. In terms of recession this may become more difficult, in the case of full-on depression it will be near impossible.

What then is the solution? Will there be a toning down of political and thus legislative will towards Climate control and its incumbent laws and decrees? Will government pragmatically allow entrepreneurs to prosper. I think not. The world of tomorrow is inherently left-wing due to political reliance on the media - it is very much easier to claim 'democratic process' to be at fault thus shifting blame. A situation where business leads the climate change agenda would be unthinkable in political circles. If that were the case then no one would entertain encouraging third world countries to take part - they have been in depression for hundreds of years. Their resources are already stretched.

Back on the agenda for cheap clean fuel is nuclear power - but the guru's themselves seem susupicious of using it. They know only too well it only needs another Chernobyl for any investment in that area to be wasted. If the boffins are right and nuclear is now safe then this is as good an example of media screaming harming the environment as we are likely to get. It is also irrelevant; there are plenty of nuclear power stations in France for example well within a 200 mile radius of the 35 million inhabitants of London - any one of them could be a disaster. On the positive side they have so far not been a problem.

The solution, in the short term, is likely to be a greater emphasis on economy, efficiency and smaller advences in technology. Low cost solutions, placing of resources efficiently both for the private and public sectors. It is only a matter of time before the media turn on their bosses the politicians once again and audit them savagely - such is the nature of elections.

Election fever might be spreading, the latest aganda might be recession but the Climate change lobby is just as big as ever and maintaining its presence. With a media filled with saving the world it will take truly pragmatic polititions to own up to the truth that someone has to pay for it.

In the meantime sensible business should prepare for the constraints and keep as efficient as possible.

Source: Climate and environment media