Economist ups cost of climate change fight

LONDON, Dec. 2 (UPI) -- Britain shouldn't let the current strain on public finances delay efforts to fight global warming, a top climate change economist said.

Lord Nicholas Stern of Brentwood said future generations will find it easier to pay off the debt for fighting global warming than cope with the consequences of major climate change, The Times of London reported Wednesday.

In a speech to the London School of Economics, Lord Stern said preventing global warming might be twice as expensive as previously thought.

He said his latest analysis indicates the cost of tackling climate change may be closer to 2 percent of global gross domestic product, and possibly reach as high as 5 percent of global GDP.

"This may turn out to cost more and we should be prepared to pay that," he said Tuesday.

Lord Stern called the upcoming climate change summit in Copenhagen, Denmark, "the most important international gathering since the Second World War."