Public Policy and Renewable Energy Development
New research by the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change finds that 80% of the world’s energy could be produced by renewables by 2050.
According to Ramon Pichs, co-chair of the authoring group:
‘it is not the availability of the resource but the public policies that will either expand or constrain renewable energy development over the coming decades’
This is an astounding figure, which, though achievable, would certainly require a concerted effort around the globe and plenty of funding. This is where conversations in the United States have stalled: the cost of investing in a green economy has been deemed too high by many, but what if we don’t act? And what if we don’t reduce greenhouse gas emissions and temperatures rise?
The effects of climate change will likely cause significant damage to communities and businesses. A major example: The food security of millions worldwide has already been disrupted — it has pushed 44 million into poverty since last June — and could very possibly worsen given unmitigated climate change. Water security, as I wrote about recently, is also threatened by a warming globe.
The United States in not immune to these effects.
Many parts of our country are already dealing with water shortages and reduced crop quality and yield. (See our newest study Pay Now, Pay Later for how your state will be affected.) But the United States, will be able to afford the costly adaptations necessitated by climate change — though make no mistake, it will be billions of dollars in losses and adaptation costs.
Developing countries are likely to see the worst effects — and are the least equipped to handle them. Instability in Latin America, for example, threatens to deteriorate as severe weather events destroy local economies and populations place greater demands on their governments. (See our September 2010 report here.) This past spring, we saw high food prices trigger uprisings in North Africa and the Middle East. In Central and South America, increased instability threatens to drive more immigrants to America’s southern border, and the threat of mass migrations and uprisings worldwide jeopardize American national security.
The cost of investing in clean energy now is far outweighed by the security and economic costs posed by climate change.
