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The article presents the Stern review on the economics of climate change. The review states that tackling climate change would cost 20 times less than doing nothing. The review triggered debate about the issue by economists and other scientific community, and experts consider the report as more of political than scientific in nature, as it covers wide and complex range of subjects. The article also evaluates the cost of environmental effects in dollar terms and recommends tough measures.

The non-participation of the United States in the recently ratified Kyoto Protocol is a matter for global concern because it is estimated that the country produces 24% of all greenhouse-gas emissions worldwide. Here we analyse the commitment of individual states and municipalities to addressing this problem and find that, despite the federal policy, between 24 and 35% of the US population are currently (or soon will be) engaged in policies directed towards significantly reducing anthropogenic climate change. The importance of this sub-national effort, which we estimate corresponds to 27–49% of the gross domestic product, will depend — like the targets adopted in Kyoto — on the real reductions achieved in greenhouse-gas emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The editorial comments on the Nicholas Stern's global environmental review, focusing on the economics of climate change that was commissioned by Gordon Brown, Britain's chancellor of the exchequer. The article also presents that, while recommending to act on stabilizing the level of greenhouse gas at twice the pre-industrial CO2 gas levels, the investment needed to control climate change is small compared with the costs of allowing it to continue unabated.