Nicholas Stern, Baron Stern of Brentford

Stern in year 2000

Nicholas Herbert Stern, Baron Stern of Brentford, Kt, FBA (born 22 April 1946) is a British economist and academic. He is chair of the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at the London School of Economics (LSE), and 2010 Professor of Collège de France. He previously served as Chief Economist of the World Bank between 2000 and 2003.

Quotes

• Meat is a wasteful use of water and creates a lot of greenhouse gases. It puts enormous pressure on the world’s resources. A vegetarian diet is better. … I think it’s important that people think about what they are doing and that includes what they are eating.
  • Interview with The Times; as quoted in "Lord Stern: 'People should give up eating meat to halt climate change'", The Telegraph (27 October 2009).

• If we do not cut emissions, we face even more devastating consequences, as unchecked they could raise global average temperature to 4C or more above pre-industrial levels by the end of the century. The shift to such a world could cause mass migrations of hundreds of millions of people away from the worst-affected areas. That would lead to conflict and war, not peace and prosperity. … We also underestimated the potential importance of strong feedbacks, such as the thawing of the permafrost to release methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, as well as tipping points beyond which some changes in the climate may become effectively irreversible.
  • "Flooding and storms in UK are clear signs of climate change, says Lord Stern. Author of 2006 report says recent weather is part of international pattern and demonstrates urgent need to cut carbon emissions", The Guardian (13 February 2014).

• We should remember that the last time global temperature was 5C different from today, the Earth was gripped by an ice age. So the risks are immense and can only be sensibly managed by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, which will require a new low-carbon industrial revolution.
  • "Climate change is here now and it could lead to global conflict", The Guardian (14 February 2014).