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David Suzuki: The economic benefits of tackling climate change Comments (2) By David Suzuki, October 2, 2012 David Suzuki. The failure of world leaders to act on the critical issue of global warming is often blamed on economic considerations. Over and over, we hear politicians say they can't spend our tax dollars on environmental protection when the economy is so fragile. Putting aside the absurdity of prioritizing a human-created and adaptable tool like the economy over caring for everything that allows us to survive and be healthy, let's take a look at the economic reality. A new scientific report concludes that climate change is already costing the world $1.2 trillion a year and is eating up 1.6 per cent of global GDP, and rising. It's also killing at least 400,000 people every year, mainly in developing countries. That's not counting the 4.5 million people a year who die from air pollution caused by burning fossil fuels.

Have you noticed that as we dematerialize consumer goods (that is, change their atoms to bits), we're less likely to own them? Businesses like iTunes have furtive terms of service that turn out to merely license the music you think you're buying. And then there are fee-based services that forgo media ownership entirely, such as Spotify. As visionary and Wired cofounder Kevin Kelly puts it, "Access is better than owning." 29 That sentiment is the driving force behind a new economic model called collaborative consumption, where consumers use online or off-line tools to rent, share, and trade goods and services. Some people refer to it as Zipcar capitalism, from the eponymous car sharing service wherein subscribers-who apparently without irony call themselves Zipsters- rent vehicles by the hour.