Good news: Tackling climate change is possible without hindering economic growth
Unusually, this is a good news story about climate change.
Rapidly falling costs for renewable energy mean that clean economic growth may now be “within our reach”, a new report shows.
So what does this mean? Stopping global warming and creating a sustainable future may be possible – without hindering economic growth.
Up to 96 per cent of the emission cuts needed to avoid temperatures rising by more than two degrees globally could be achieved by 2030, through governments collaborating and investing in cheaper renewables.
Usually, it's argued that the steps necessary to tackle global warming would be cripplingly, if not impossibly, expensive. But the report published by New Climate Economy, suggests otherwise:
“Technological innovation, new economic trends and political commitments are all coming together – towards a low-carbon future.
But the page of change needs to be accelerated to stimulate further and better quality growth and reduce climate risks.”
The reasons for this change, according to the report, include turbulent oil prices and dropping renewable energy costs, which have made a switch to clean energy more attractive.