Conclusions

While the consequences of climate change fall disproportionately on poor communities and poor nations, no one is immune to changing weather patterns and the loss of Earth’s ice cover. For many reasons, our dependence on oil and coal are not sustainable. “Business-as-usual” must be replaced by bold and transformative changes in the operating rules that drive the global economy.

Looking Toward Copenhagen: Is it Time for "Bretton Woods II?"

In July of 1944, capping almost four decades of world war and depression, Western world leaders met at the Mount Washington resort in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire to craft a new international economic order.

Under the stewardship of John Maynard Keynes, three rules were established: 1. Fixed exchange rates, tied to the gold standard; 2. Free trade in goods; and 3. Regulation of international capital markets. (Adam Smith and David Ricardo both concluded that comparative advantage among nations would not work if capital flowed freely across borders.) The Marshall Fund for Europe and the U.S. G.I. Bill provided the funds to propel post-war prosperity.

But, in 1971, the Bretton Woods rules were abandoned, unleashing four decades of inflation, debt and cycles of speculation. Today, as food, fuel, financial and climate crises converge, the guideposts of globalization -- deregulation, privatization and liberalization (of goods and capital) – are yielding to a new paradigm with better regulated capital markets and a public/private partnership, writ large.

The United Nations Climate Change Conference, to be held in Copenhagen at the end of 2009, provides a pivotal juncture for halting “business-as-usual,” redesigning the international financial architecture and institutionalizing the monetary resources commensurate with the challenges we face.

Today’s deliberations will be different from those held in 1944: there will be representation from all nations, non-governmental organizations and the business and scientific communities. Realigning the rules, regulations and rewards will be needed to promote less and very different patterns of consumption and waste generation. The good news is that, properly funded, renewable energy, smart technologies, efficient transport and healthy cities programs can form the foundation for a sustainable low carbon economy.