Lord Green warns of “existential danger” facing “whole of humanity”

There are “dangerous land mines on the road ahead” as Asia continues its remarkable rise, Lord Green, Chairman of Asia House, has warned.

In a major keynote speech at the Asia House Future of Trade conference in Hong Kong, the former HSBC Chairman said, “all the elements which made for the European tragedy that followed in the twentieth century are clearly visible on what is now a Eurasian – not just a European – stage.”

However, Lord Green, author of the new book ‘The Human Odyssey’, identified one threat above all others: “The profoundly challenging planetary threat which is now the shared existential danger of the whole of humanity.”

“No one in any sphere of activity can afford to ignore the significance of this great crisis,” he said.

“We all know what is at stake. As the human population continues to expand, and as developing countries continue to grow their appetite for the physical benefits and the standard of living which Europeans and – increasingly – East Asians take for granted, the impact on the planet becomes more and more severe with every passing year.

“We now have what the economists call a problem of the commons – and we have it on a huge scale.”

WATCH Lord Green’s speech at the Future of Trade conference in full at Asia House TV