The Economist has an enjoyable piece about a green path to redemption for all the greedy Speaking about the costs required to protect rainforests as a mean to mitigate climate change, the author notes that:
"setting up a formal United Nations scheme to pay for avoided deforestation, which is expected to emerge from a global deal on climate change, will take time. On November 19th a high-level group of representatives from forested nations met at the London home of the Prince of Wales to discuss an emergency package of funding to stop deforestation while the trees are still standing.
The meeting heard how an informal working group on interim finance recently produced a report suggesting that between $22 billion and $37 billion will be needed between 2010 and 2015. Although that might sound like a lot, in the global scheme of things it is not. For comparison, the size of the bonuses to be shared by bankers at Goldman Sachs this year looks set to be about $21 billion.
Which prompts your correspondent to ponder where such short-term finance might be found. Rich-world governments, many of which have record levels of debt, are skint. Bailing out the banks has been costly. Meanwhile the social standing of those bankers who are lucky enough to be getting bonuses, while their fellow citizens face years of higher taxes and cuts to public services, is at an all-time low. The ideal solution, surely, is for those bankers to shun a new Ferrari in favour of rainforest conservation.
I love it!
It just boggles my mind that in the year after the banking sector's greed and irresponsible swindling of the public caused the greatest financial crisis since the Great Depression, Goldman Sachs executives stand to receive $21 Billion in bonuses. It is nauseating, and in itself, is cause for President Obama to demand the resignations of Treasury Secretary Geithner and Economic Adviser, Lawrence Summers. Clearly, we need sheep dogs guarding the hen house, not wolves.
Read the full Economist article>>
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