Professor John Sweeney:

The point made by the Senator about shocks is very valid. It is imperative, based on the precautionary principle, that we do not rely on a continuation of the status quointo the future and that we do not attempt to borrow from the future on the basis of those assumptions. For example, we have seen throughout the world in the past year the type of shocks that can destroy forests and the type of shocks that can ruin some carefully cultivated investments over 20, 30 or 40 years. We have to be very cautious about assuming that what we plant today will be there 30 or 40 years hence. We have to be extremely cautious about attempting, in any shape or form, to bring the benefits forward into previous carbon budgets. There was a hint about that yesterday, which is something we must be ultra cautious about.

On the point about the future, a very passionate speech was made in Glasgow. A very passionate individual said that the future is a bourgeois concept. The individual was saying that we have to think very seriously about the welfare and well-being of people today as well as what we are bequeathing to the next generation. On those two grounds, the precautionary principle is one that should alert us to the fact that we should be taking action sooner rather than later on these carbon budgets.