Climate insurance cheaper than bank rescues

Insuring ourselves against climate change is far less costly than bailing out faulty banks, writes columnist Bert Wagendorp in the daily De Volkskrant: "It can freeze, and it can thaw, that's the nature of things. ... In normal times we insure ourselves against imponderabilities, and the same goes here. With a yearly premium of one percent of the gross global product - a fifth of what was spent rescuing the world's banks last year - we can prevent potential catastrophes caused by global warming. If we fail to insure ourselves and things take a turn for the worse the costs will be many times higher. The thing to do in Copenhagen is to agree on who should pay the premiums. If we can we'll be off and running, and the whole question of who believes what will be purely academic."

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