Hey big spender, spend a little time with me, maybe
It’s telling how the press words stories around Copenhagen. “If” negotiators reach an accord at the climate talks, the world will have to undergo huge shifts in the way energy is produced. Something like that. So many “ifs” and “buts”. But any real progress in saving the planet will mean trillions of dollars spent mitigating climate change over the next few decades, with sweeping changes to modes of production, consumer behaviour, living environments and new policies for agriculture and forestry production. There’s also a need to create entirely new markets in global warming pollution credits. The trillions of dollars needed would be a relatively small fraction of the world’s total economic output – somewhere between $50 trillion and $60 trillion a year. To this end, delegates to Copenhagen are expected to set a figure of more than $10 trillion in green investment from 2010 to 2030, says the International Energy Agency. It shouldn’t sound as if the world’s economy will stagger under the weight of this. The investments will be over decades and will provide economic benefits in new jobs and improved health, with many other advantages.Read more: The New York Times
Become an Insider