Opinion | We’re facing a global financial meltdown and climate catastrophe so why is nobody listening, let alone acting?
Andrew Sheng says the world needs to, but probably won’t, deal with a looming financial storm and global warming. The poor are powerless, the rich are complacent and the leader of the free world seems to think climate change is fake news
As bankers and policymakers converge on Bali this weekend for the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, the question everyone is asking is: how should we respond to the changes that are about to sweep the world at all levels?
Although three authoritative reports suggest things aren’t so bad now, there is little room for complacency. More people worry a perfect storm in the financial markets is looming on the three-year horizon, while scientists say we have 12 years left to deal with climate change.
The accompanying Global Financial Stability Report says the global financial system is stronger than it was before the financial crisis a decade ago, but it remains vulnerable if interest rates rise. According to the IMF Blog, “In economies with globally systemically important financial sectors, debt owed by governments, companies, and households has risen from around 200 per cent of GDP a decade ago to almost 250 per cent today.”