From: WWF
Published January 26, 2009 09:47 AM
Green economy will help fight climate change
Brussels - New figures released today show that moving
to a “green” global economy could not only protect the planet from the worst
effects of climate change but is surprisingly affordable.
Pathways to a Low Carbon Economy- a new study by McKinsey and Co — shows
that global warming can be kept below the critical 2°C rise and that it is
well within our means to do so. The study spells out in detail the costs of
cutting damaging carbon emissions, but makes it clear that only by acting
now will we avoid the worst impacts of climate change. According to WWF, one
of the report's sponsors, world leaders now have all the information they
need to shape a global climate deal for both developed and developing
countries.
The study — one of the biggest and most detailed of its kind ever
compiled — lists more than 200 opportunities, spread across ten sectors and
twenty-one geographical regions, which could cut global greenhouse gas
emissions by about 40% below 1990 levels by 2030.
By 2030, wind, solar and other sustainable renewable energy could provide
almost a third of all global power needs; energy efficiency could reduce
greenhouse gas emissions by more than a quarter and deforestation in
developing countries — one of the biggest drivers of climate change and a
major threat to sustainable development — could be almost fully halted. And
all at a cost of less than half a percent of global GDP.
“The McKinsey study shows once and for all that taking action on climate
change is both urgent and affordable”, said WWF Director James Leape. “The
figures show clearly that not only can we move to a low carbon economy, but
that the costs are manageable. Adopting these measures will be a major step
towards avoiding the worst effects of climate change.”
Speaking at the launch of the report in Brussels, Mr Leape continued, “As
governments now invest in rebuilding the global economy, they have a unique
opportunity, and indeed the imperative, to build a low-carbon economy that
will both create jobs and stabilize the climate. The low-carbon technologies
and production models already exist and they make economic as well as
environmental sense.”
“When the world's leaders meet in Copenhagen in December to agree a global
deal on climate change, they will have no excuse for inaction. The world
will be watching and expecting those leaders to adopt measures which will
lead to a low-carbon economy, giving a fighting chance of keeping climate
change below the crucial 2°C level.” said Mr Leape.
The McKinsey study has been extensively peer-reviewed by scientists,
economists and expert bodies including WWF. It presents its findings in the
form of an “abatement cost curve”� which graphically illustrates the sectors
where the most cost-effective carbon reductions can be made, including
saving 14 billion tonnes of CO2 by replacing carbon-based power generation
with — amongst other things - existing and proven clean, renewable energy;
14 billion tonnes through more sustainable use of land in the agriculture
and forestry sectors; and 11 billion tonnes from energy efficiency. McKinsey
identify another 9 billion tonnes of potential emissions reductions which
either are more expensive or represent behaviour changes that are difficult
to quantify.
In Pathways to a Low Carbon Economy, McKinsey analyses the potential, based
on emissions and cost, for abatement across all sectors including nuclear
power. WWF believes the costs for nuclear have been underestimated. But more
importantly, nuclear power is not a viable option when the risks from
proliferation, highly radioactive waste and plutonium leaks are taken into
consideration. We believe that further substantial reductions are possible
from combined heat & power (CHP,) biomass, better energy efficiency and
low-carbon products which will protect the climate without the need for
nuclear power.
WWF welcomes the study's principal findings which show that if all the
technology options were put into practice, it would be possible to achieve a
global reduction of approximately 40% of greenhouse gas emissions by the
year 2030 compared with 1990 levels — which equates to a 70% reduction of
“business as usual” levels. That would be enough to put the world on track
to keep global average temperature rises below the 2°C level which WWF and
others have identified as the maximum allowable before widespread
irreversible environmental damage kicks in.
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