Current plans predicated on stable growth seem foolish when we know that shocks such as global heating aren’t going away
Temperatures in Britain hit 40C. Runways melt at major airports. The London fire brigade reports its busiest single day since the second world war as fires rage around the city. The Met Office warns of temperatures so high they “could lead to serious illness or loss of life”.
Meanwhile, inflation grinds inexorably upwards. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is part of it, but other pressures were already apparent. Staples such as coffee saw price rises as a result of extreme weather disrupting harvests. Even silicon chips have been affected, with droughts in Taiwan putting the hugely water-intensive production of semiconductors at risk.
The environmental crisis isn’t going away. The best available projections from climate forecasters point to greater instability – more heatwaves, more floods, worse shortages of food, even an increased risk of future pandemics. Yet this unavoidable and hugely costly instability, now becoming a part of our daily lives, scarcely seems to register with the institutions charged with managing the economy.