Credit crisis an opportunity?

15/10/2008, ARTHUR MAX, ASSOCIATED PRESS, THE HAGUE, NETHERLANDS -- The global financial crisis could hardly come at a worse time for nations seeking a new agreement on climate change which, on top of everything else, will cost tens of billions more dollars. As Western governments muster over a trillion dollars to bail out ailing financial institutions, poor countries wonder if there will be any money to rescue them from predicted ravages of global warming. Some climate campaigners see a bright side to the financial crisis. Somehow, the amount needed to fight climate change doesn't seem as unrealistic as it once did after the astronomical amounts governments committed almost overnight to support banks. "A month ago people would still be shocked at that figure," said Donald Pols, of World Wildlife Fund for Nature, who calculated an annual $380 billion bill for climate change by 2030. "You have now proven it's possible" to raise huge resources in the face of a crisis. Pols said the economic restructuring called for under the bailout agreements opened opportunities for more investment in renewable energy and 'green' businesses. The money injected into the banking system was meant to be invested, he said. Governments have broken the taboo against intervention in markets and should have a voice in directing those investments.