GLOBAL COMMISSION FINDS BETTER ECONOMIC GROWTH CAN CLOSE THE EMISSIONS GAP

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A new report released by the Global Commission on the Economy and the Climate identifies ten key economic opportunities that could close up to 96 percent of the gap between business-as-usual emissions and the level needed to limit dangerous climate change. The report calls for stronger cooperation between governments, businesses, investors, cities and communities to drive economic growth in the emerging low-carbon economy.

The Commission’s 10 recommendations include:

• Scaling up partnerships between cities, like the Compact of Mayors, to drive low-carbon urban development. Investment in public transport, building efficiency, and better waste management, could save around US$17 trillion globally by 2050.
• Enhancing partnerships such as REDD+, the 20×20 Initiative in Latin America, and the Africa Climate-Smart Agriculture Alliance to bring together forest countries, developed economies and the private sector to halt deforestation by 2030 and restore degraded farmland. This would enhance agricultural productivity and resilience, strengthen food security, and improve livelihoods for agrarian and forest communities.
• Governments, development banks and the private sector should collaborate to reduce the cost of capital for clean energy, with the goal of investing US$1 trillion in developed and developing countries by 2030.
• The G20 should raise energy efficiency standards in the world’s leading economies for goods such as appliances, lighting, and vehicles. Investment in energy efficiency could boost cumulative economic output globally by US$18 trillion by 2035.
• Action to reduce emissions from aviation and shipping under international treaties and from hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) under the Montreal Protocol could reduce emissions by as much as 2.6 Gt in 2030. In shipping alone, higher efficiency standards are expected to save an average of US$200 billion in annual fuel costs by 2030.

The Commission calculates that its recommendations could achieve up to 96 percent of the emissions reductions in 2030 that are needed to hold the rise in global temperature to under 2°C, the level which governments have pledged not to cross.

The report finds that businesses are already driving a growing US$5.5 trillion global market for low-carbon goods and services. It calls for new business partnerships to open new markets, share costs, and reduce concerns about the international competitiveness impacts of climate policy.