Bali must find practical ways to tackle climate change

One of the emerging divides in the debate about Climate Change is between those who believe that the problem should principally be addressed by draconian changes in the way we live, and those who believe incentives are far more likely to achieve the goals both sides seek.

Both sides are on display for all to see at this week's Bali Conference, which is the first step on a United Nations path to update the Kyoto Protocol.

I'm much more interested in practical ideas to tackle climate change than Domesday predictions from the fringe who only set back their own cause by overselling their case. So, for example, the news that the European Union is working on plans to provide billions of watts of solar power by building a string of solar "fields" in a ring across north Africa is exactly the sort of focus we should be providing.

Before anyone raises the spectre of EU Imperialism exploiting Africa, the plan is for two thirds of the electricity generated to be used in that continent with the added bonus that the process desalinates sea water. In other words, as well as power, Africa will also get clean drinking water. The solar fields will be in uninhabitable desert areas. And Europe will get something like 30 billion watts of power - for context Britain's entire electricity generating capacity today is 12 billion watts.

If all this sounds too good to be true, then the catch is that at the moment this clean, sustainable energy is hugely expensive - twice the cost of coal-power. It's no good for the Green movement to dismiss cost: most people are already stretched too thinly to be able to afford a doubling of their power bills, which will hit the poorest the most.

Nor should they have to - this isn't an insurmountable problem. Again, technology is the answer: more efficient means of storing and transporting the power and more powerful solar cells will bring the cost down and I'd far rather the government invest in and subsidise clean fuel than oil producers in order to level the playing field.

You can follow the Bali Conference via the UN's official website at www.unfcccbali.org.