Query: The costs of inaction far outweigh the costs of mitigation.

Relevant passages:
Climate change mitigation <=SEP=> Climate change mitigation consists of actions to limit the magnitude or rate of long-term climate change . Climate change mitigation generally involves reductions in human ( anthropogenic ) emissions of greenhouse gases ( GHGs ) . Mitigation may also be achieved by increasing the capacity of carbon sinks , e.g. , through reforestation . Mitigation policies can substantially reduce the risks associated with human-induced global warming .   According to the IPCC 's 2014 assessment report , `` Mitigation is a public good ; climate change is a case of the ` tragedy of the commons . Effective climate change mitigation will not be achieved if each agent ( individual , institution or country ) acts independently in its own selfish interest ( see international cooperation and emissions trading ) , suggesting the need for collective action . Some adaptation actions , on the other hand , have characteristics of a private good as benefits of actions may accrue more directly to the individuals , regions , or countries that undertake them , at least in the short term . Nevertheless , financing such adaptive activities remains an issue , particularly for poor individuals and countries . ''   Examples of mitigation include phasing out fossil fuels by switching to low-carbon energy sources , such as renewable and nuclear energy , and expanding forests and other `` sinks '' to remove greater amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere . Energy efficiency may also play a role , for example , through improving the insulation of buildings . Another approach to climate change mitigation is climate engineering .   Most countries are parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change ( UNFCCC ) . The ultimate objective of the UNFCCC is to stabilize atmospheric concentrations of GHGs at a level that would prevent dangerous human interference of the climate system . Scientific analysis can provide information on the impacts of climate change , but deciding which impacts are dangerous requires value judgments .   In 2010 , Parties to the UNFCCC agreed that future global warming should be limited to below 2.0 ° C ( 3.6 ° F ) relative to the pre-industrial level . With the Paris Agreement of 2015 this was confirmed , but was revised with a new target laying down `` parties will do the best '' to achieve warming below 1.5 ° C . The current trajectory of global greenhouse gas emissions does not appear to be consistent with limiting global warming to below 1.5 or 2 ° C . Other mitigation policies have been proposed , some of which are more stringent or modest than the 2 ° C limit .

Mitigation (law) <=SEP=> Mitigation in law is the principle that a party who has suffered loss ( from a tort or breach of contract ) has to take reasonable action to minimize the amount of the loss suffered . As stated by the Canadian Federal Court of Appeal in Redpath Industries Ltd. v.Cisco ( The ) , `` It is well established that a party who suffers damages as a result of a breach of contract has a duty to mitigate those damages , that is to say that the wrongdoer can not be called upon to pay for avoidable losses which would result in an increase in the quantum of damages payable to the injured party . '' The onus on showing a failure to mitigate damages is on the defendant .   For example , consider a tenant who signs an agreement to rent a house for a year , but moves out ( and stops paying rent ) after only one month . The landlord may be able to sue the tenant for breach of contract : however the landlord must mitigate damages by making a reasonable attempt to find a replacement tenant for the remainder of the year . The landlord may not simply let the house lie empty for eleven months and then sue the tenant for eleven months ' rent .   The actions of the defendant may also result in the mitigation of damages which would otherwise have been due to the successful plaintiff . For example , the Civil Law ( Wrongs ) Act 2002 ( ACT ) provides that mitigation of damages for the publication of defamatory matter may result from any apology made by a defendant and any correction published ( s. 139I ) .   The issue of what is reasonable is especially contentious in personal injury cases where the plaintiff refuses medical advice . This can be seen in cases such as Janiak v. Ippolito .  The antonym of mitigation is aggravation .

Risk management <=SEP=> Risk management is the identification , assessment , and prioritization of risks ( defined in ISO 31000 as the effect of uncertainty on objectives ) followed by coordinated and economical application of resources to minimize , monitor , and control the probability and/or impact of unfortunate events or to maximize the realization of opportunities . Risk management 's objective is to assure uncertainty does not deflect the endeavor from the business goals .   Risks can come from various sources including uncertainty in financial markets , threats from project failures ( at any phase in design , development , production , or sustainment life-cycles ) , legal liabilities , credit risk , accidents , natural causes and disasters , deliberate attack from an adversary , or events of uncertain or unpredictable root-cause . There are two types of events i.e. negative events can be classified as risks while positive events are classified as opportunities . Several risk management standards have been developed including the Project Management Institute , the National Institute of Standards and Technology , actuarial societies , and ISO standards . Methods , definitions and goals vary widely according to whether the risk management method is in the context of project management , security , engineering , industrial processes , financial portfolios , actuarial assessments , or public health and safety .   Strategies to manage threats ( uncertainties with negative consequences ) typically include avoiding the threat , reducing the negative effect or probability of the threat , transferring all or part of the threat to another party , and even retaining some or all of the potential or actual consequences of a particular threat , and the opposites for opportunities ( uncertain future states with benefits ) .   Certain aspects of many of the risk management standards have come under criticism for having no measurable improvement on risk ; whereas the confidence in estimates and decisions seem to increase . For example , it has been shown that one in six IT projects experience cost overruns of 200 % on average , and schedule overruns of 70 % .

Stern Review <=SEP=> The Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change is a 700-page report released for the Government of the United Kingdom on 30 October 2006 by economist Nicholas Stern , chair of the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at the London School of Economics ( LSE ) and also chair of the Centre for Climate Change Economics and Policy ( CCCEP ) at Leeds University and LSE . The report discusses the effect of global warming on the world economy . Although not the first economic report on climate change , it is significant as the largest and most widely known and discussed report of its kind .   The Review states that climate change is the greatest and widest-ranging market failure ever seen , presenting a unique challenge for economics . The Review provides prescriptions including environmental taxes to minimise the economic and social disruptions . The Stern Review 's main conclusion is that the benefits of strong , early action on climate change far outweigh the costs of not acting . The Review points to the potential impacts of climate change on water resources , food production , health , and the environment . According to the Review , without action , the overall costs of climate change will be equivalent to losing at least 5 % of global gross domestic product ( GDP ) each year , now and forever . Including a wider range of risks and impacts could increase this to 20 % of GDP or more , also indefinitely . Stern believes that 5 -- 6 degrees of temperature increase is `` a real possibility . ''   The Review proposes that one percent of global GDP per annum is required to be invested to avoid the worst effects of climate change . In June 2008 , Stern increased the estimate for the annual cost of achieving stabilisation between 500 and 550 ppm CO2e to 2 % of GDP to account for faster than expected climate change .   There has been a mixed reaction to the Stern Review from economists . Several economists have been critical of the Review , for example , a paper by Byatt et al. ( 2006 ) describes the Review as `` deeply flawed '' . Some economists ( such as Brad DeLong and John Quiggin ) have supported the Review . Others have criticised aspects of Review 's analysis , but argued that some of its conclusions might still be justified based on other grounds , e.g. , see papers by Martin Weitzman ( 2007 ) and Dieter Helm ( 2008 ) .