And we're beginning to learn just how much can be achieved in the emerging market economies - such as China where a major shift in the fuel mix is underway with a 19 per cent reduction last year in the use of coal. That was a tremendous achievement. Climate change demands attention because without sensible precautionary action we could reach the point where the risks to the climate became so serious that they start to form a barrier to economic development. And that in turn could produce serious instability. I think we've learnt in Europe over the last fifty years that stability is the primary precondition for prosperity.
Stability is what gives investors the confidence to risk their capital.
That stability has been created within Europe, but in the modern interconnected world our stability is always vulnerable if there is instability elsewhere. There are many elements in the current situation which are not stable. Peace is still fragile in the Middle East. Russia has not yet enjoyed the economic renewal which has begun to occur in parts of Eastern Europe. GDP per capita in Russia is still 50 per cent below its level ten years ago.