$700 Billion A Year Need To Avert Climate Change: WEF Study
Please note that we are not authorised to provide any investment advice. The content on this page is for information purposes only.
The world will need to spend almost $700 billion annually on clean energy and energy efficiency projects if it is to avert worsening environmental damage caused by a reliance on fossil fuels, said a study prepared for the World Economic Forum on Monday, urging governments and the private sector to work in tandem to mobilise funds that will go into combating climate change.
The world will need to spend almost $700 billion annually on clean energy and energy efficiency projects if it is to avert worsening environmental damage caused by a reliance on fossil fuels, said a study prepared for the World Economic Forum on Monday, urging governments and the private sector to work in tandem to mobilise funds that will go into combating climate change.
According to the Green Investment Report 2013, prepared by the Green Growth Action Alliance, global investment in renewable energy in 2011 hit another record – up 17 percent to $257 billion. However, while this represented a six-fold increase from just eight years ago, “progress in green investment continues to be outpaced by investment in fossil-fuel intensive, inefficient infrastructure.”
“As a result, greenhouse gas levels are rising amid growing concerns that the world is moving beyond the point at which global warming can be contained within safe limits,” the report wrote.
Related: Infographic: Green Growth for Sustainable Development
Related: Green growth or de-growth: What is the best way to stop businesses destroying the biosphere?
Former Mexican President and Chairman of the Alliance, Felipe Calderon, added that the funds were needed to “satisfy the needs of more than 9 billion people (by 2050), who will rightly demand equal opportunities for development,” while this would be in addition to another $5 trillion a year countries must spend on infrastructure for agriculture, transport, power and water through 2020.
[quote]“Shaping a global economy fit for the 21st century is our greatest challenge…. Delivering such inclusive development in a sustainable way, however, requires that we remain within the boundaries of what our planet can safely deliver. Economic growth and sustainability are inter-dependent, you cannot have one without the other, and greening investment is the pre-requisite to realizing both goals,” Calderon said.[/quote]In a recent report produced by the World Bank, the Bank estimates that our planet is on track to warm by 4 degrees Celsius (7.2 degrees Fahrenheit) this century, almost double the agreed limit set by a United Nations pact.
Related: The Dangerous New Era Of Climate Change: Jeffrey Sachs
Related: Global Warming: The Greatest Threat To Arab Economies?
Related: Fighting Climate Change – Why Current Solutions Don’t Work: Gail Tverberg
Though the WEF study noted that the recent recessions in Western economies since the global financial crisis had slowed the growth of carbon emissions, the financial depression had also left governments with less state funds to channel into green technologies.
To rein in global warming as such, governments must use public money to leverage as much as five times the amount in private investment in clean technologies, according to the report.
[quote]“The G20 governments must accelerate the phasing-out of fossil-fuel subsidies, enact long-term carbon price signals, enable greater free trade in green technologies, and expand investment in climate adaptation,” the report said.[/quote]Read the full study here.
