Go
Low Carbon AND do it for the money!
précised by
Jenny Huggett from an article in New Scientist by Fred Pierce.
A few weeks ago the
Better Growth, Better Climate: the New
Climate Economy Report was put before
world leaders at the UN Climate Summit 2014 in New York. The new
message is that fighting climate change does not, or need not, have a
price tag, and that nations should cut emissions out of
self-interest. The publication comes from the Global Climate
Commission on the Economy and Climate, an independent body chaired by
Felipe Calderon (former President of Mexico) and Nicholas Stern of
the London School of Economics).
The report states
that if the world spends wisely on reducing emissions the climate
problem could be largely solved and that economic growth would be
greater than in a high-carbon economy.
If all energy subsidies were removed the setting of emissions targets
would be unnecessary, as market forces would create a low carbon
economy! Maybe not news to Greens, or
people actually working in renewables, but this is paradigm-shifting
stuff for most politicians. The report goes on to say that delay is
dangerous, for every coal fired power station built, the cost of
shifting to a low carbon economy will be greater. In summary the
reports recommendations are:
City structure
- Cities need to become compact instead of sprawling, and with mass
public transport and cleaner power. Though how this could be achieved
in practice with existing cities is not covered.
Degraded farm
land restoration – Restoring just 12%
of degraded land could feed 200 million people. Most degraded land is
in the third world where most of the undernourished live, rather a
lot of the rest is in the USA (that last bit is my view!).
Energy generation
– Half of all new
energy generating capacity is now renewable and the price of solar
power has fall by 90% in less than a decade. The report concludes
that solar now can outcompete coal, and that the switch is a “no
brainer”. Ill health caused by fossil fuel generated smog cuts GNP
by 4%.
Critics say that the
switch to a low carbon economy requires large infrastructure
investment not accounted for in the way the report compares fossil
fuel and renewable energy sources. But the authors point out that
such costs will be “swamped” by better health and economic
efficiency benefits.
And this report is
not a lone voice, a report from the Cambridge Econometrics, forecast
that with a cut of 60% carbon emissions in the UK by 2030, the GDP
would be 1.1% higher than today.
If markets had
perfect foresight the low carbon switch would just happen, but so
long as the market is skewed by fossil fuel subsidies (which the
International Energy Agency says are worth more than five times those
for renewables), it is not going to happen. Only governments can
change this.
