Economy | News & Views

80 percent cuts in carbon emissions possible

Cutting Europe’s carbon emissions by 80 percent by 2050 is possible, but the continent must eradicate carbon-emitting power generation.

This is the conclusion of a new report by the European Climate Foundation, which states that an 80 percent cut on 1990 levels would require a move to an almost zero-carbon power supply.

In the short term, the cost of implementing these policies would be higher than conducting business as usual, but over the longer term it would not lead to higher energy prices, the document stated.

Matt Philips, a spokesman for the European Climate Foundation, said: “When the Roadmap 2050 project began it was assumed that high-renewable energy scenarios would be too unstable to provide sufficient reliability.”

It was also thought that they would be uneconomic and that major breakthroughs in technology would be needed to move in this direction.

“Roadmap 2050 has found all of these assertions to be untrue,” he said.

According to data from the European Commission, carbon emissions from companies covered by the EU Emissions Trading Scheme fell by 11.2 percent last year.

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Green Alliance: Budget makes way for low carbon economy

Chancellor Alistair Darling’s establishment of a new green investment bank is a “very good starting point” for the UK to become a low carbon economy.

This is the view of Chris Hewitt, associate of environmental organisation Green Alliance, which comes after the announcement of a £2 billion green investment bank during Mr Darling’s Budget last week.

“Two billion [pounds] won’t transform our economy to a low carbon one but it is a very good starting point and it gives us a basis on which to raise more capital in the future,” commented Mr Hewitt.

Funds from the bank will focus on green transport and sustainable energy including offshore wind power.

As for the future, Mr Hewitt added: “We will be doing a lot more work on environmental taxation after the election and we would be looking for the next Budget, whenever it comes, to look at much more fundamental measures like that.”

However he explained that for the pre-election Budget, the Green Alliance had hoped for the creation of a green investment bank, which the government has delivered.

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New “Low Carbon World website” to Accelerate Transition to Green Economy

The “Low Carbon World” website, a web-based communications platform was officially launched today (Thursday) in Bali, Indonesia at the United Nations Environment Programme’s annual Governing Council.

The new website, a joint project between Low Carbon Economy.com and the United Nations Climate Neutral Network (CN NET) aims to facilitate the move to global low carbon economies, a necessary imperative if we are to combat dangerous and escalating climate change.

The new website will assist knowledge transfer and simplify access to information and tools that can be difficult to trace.

LowCarbonEconomy.com will list every country’s carbon policies, commitments, historical performance, future projections and opportunities, as well as country-specific marketplaces, networks, associations and standards which are relevant to government departments and investment agencies.

“Everyone agrees that the transition to a low carbon economy is an environmental and economic imperative, and will require increased collaboration globally – particularly between public and private sectors. Until now, access to the necessary low carbon information has been extremely restricted and very time consuming. With this project we have changed that and we look forward to continuing to work with UNEP and other major partners over the coming months and years,” said Toddington Harper, TLCE’s Managing Director.

Annual global greenhouse gas emissions should not exceed 40 to 48.3 Gigatonnes (Gt) of equivalent C02 in 2020, if a rise in global temperatures is to be curbed at 2 degrees C or less, whilst between 2020 and 2050, global emissions ideally need to fall by between 48 per cent and 72 per cent.

“The solutions for the transition to a low carbon economy already exist, and it is a question of removing barriers for rapid and mass uptake. These barriers include technical, financial and informational aspects. I look forward to seeing this project develop further,” said Achim Steiner UN Under-Secretary General and Executive Director of UNEP.

The Climate Neutral Network (CN Net) celebrated its second anniversary at UNEPs 11th Special Session of the Governing Council in Bali, Indonesia by hosting a side event titled “High hopes, low carbon – making it work!” The side event showcased work and success stories undertaken between CN Net and The Low Carbon Economy Ltd (TLCE) over the past 12-months.

>>> The home page for the ‘Low Carbon World’ initiative is available here and will soon also be available on UNEPs Climate Neutral website.

>>> You can read this press release online here

>>> New information is being uploaded daily.

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