Challenges of the economy decarbonization for countries with various GDP and carbon intensity

 The countries with significant CO2 emissions are mapped on diagram below depending on their GDP per capita and carbon intensity per unit of GDP.

• Wealthy economies with low emissions per unit of GDP (U.S., Japan, EU countries)  will be able to decarbonize comparatively quickly enough to meet their aggressive stated Net Zero timelines.

EU countries lead the way to decarbonization and decoupling of economic growth and carbon emissions

 Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Netherlands, and Sweden are among those EU countries who achieved the success in growing their economies and, at the same time, reducing CO2 emissions during last 30 years.

Multiple benefits of energy efficiency can deliver as much as 2.5 times the value of the energy demand reduction

According to IEA, energy efficiency should be recognized as a major energy resource. Thanks to energy efficiency investments over the preceding four decades, energy use avoided by IEA member countries was larger than any other single supply side resource, including oil, gas, coal and electricity. 

U.S. cleaner energy industry's revenue is comparable now with pharmaceutical industry

With $200 billion in revenue, advanced energy industry is among U.S. economy leaders, says report published by AEE, a national trade association of businesses working on cleaner and smarter energy. AEE includes in advanced energy the following sectors: building efficiency, electricity generation, delivery and management, advanced transportation, fuel production and delivery, combined heat and power, advanced manufacturing processes, etc.

Clean Energy Economy: how to get there

The new report, From Risk to Return: Investing in a Clean Energy Economy by the Risky Business Project, demonstrates that not only is managing the risks implied by climate change both economically and technically viable, but it also would create significant new business opportunities. The transition to a cleaner energy economy rests on three pillars: moving from fossil fuels to electricity wherever possible, generating electricity with low or zero carbon emissions, and using energy much more efficiently.

WRI: more than 20 countries have reduced annual GHG emissions in 21 century while growing their economies

A study by the World Resources Institute found that since the start of the 21st century, 21 countries, including the U.S., Germany, France, UK, Ukraine, Spain and others, have already fully decoupled their economic growth from carbon emissions. Over the 14-year period, the aggregate annual CO2 reduction for these 21 countries amounted to slightly more than 1 billion metric tons.

How climate finance can be transformational factor towards low-carbon economy

A working paper, published by World Resource Institute, examines the most critical elements for transformation by reviewing 20 case studies from both developed and developing countries and across all regions. A transformation is defined as a long-term fundamental shift in a system, whether political, economic, social, or biological.

Credit Suisse: poorest half of the global population own less than 1% of total wealth, the richest 1% have more wealth than the rest of the world

In its Global Wealth Databook 2015, Credit Suisse, a leading global financial services company, reveals staggering facts about world's wealth distribution. Global Wealth Databook is based on research undertaken by recognized authorities from the Credit Suisse Research Institute.

Climate change costs in Australia are rising fast

Variety of climatic conditions in Australia’s puts it particularly at risk to economic, physical and social loss when it comes to extreme events – droughts, floods, storms and extreme temperatures.

How does climate stack up against other worst-case scenarios?

Climate change isn’t the only big problem facing society. There are half a dozen other candidates that seem to make it on various lists of the worst of the worst, and it’s tough to come up with a clear order of which most demands our attention and limited resources. In addition to climate change, let’s consider asteroids, biotechnology, nanotechnology, nukes, pandemics, robots and “strangelets,” strange matter with the potential of swallowing the Earth in a fraction of a second. Ideally, society should conduct serious benefit-cost analyses for each worst-case scenario: estimate probabilities and possible impacts, multiply the two, and compare it to the costs of action in each instance. Read more at tp://www.eco-business.com

World Bank: 5 Ways to Reduce the Drivers of Climate Change

In a lecture to students at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., on March 18, World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim laid out five key areas where policies and growth choices can help reduce the drivers of climate change. “We have to keep the economy growing – there is no turning back on growth,” President Kim told the student audience. “What we have to do is decouple growth from carbon emissions.”  Read more at http://www.worldbank.org

Hidden costs of greenhouse gas emissions.

The study, published in the journal Climatic Change, is the first to pull together a proper accounting of the hidden costs of greenhouse gas emissions. It shows the true (and much higher) cost that Americans  pay in dollars at the pump and light switch—or in human lives at the emergency room. If all greenhouse gas  damages are added in like the gas tax, a gallon of regular in the United States would really cost $6.25. The price of diesel would be a whopping $7.72 a gallon. Read more at http://qz.com