Comparing time present with time future: discounting in the Stern Review

Abstract

What actions should we, as a subset of world citizenry, be contemplating now in response to the likely effects of climate change? That is the fundamental question posed by the Stern Review. As is the case with most large questions, our individual and collective responses are conditioned by our systems of values, by the institutions within which we work, by uncertainties about the facts and by the intellectual frameworks that help structure our understanding of reality.