Transcript Global Green New Deal

Towards a Global Green New Deal?
The Impact of the
Global Economic Crisis on Climate Change
and Prospects for a Green Economy
Presentation by Hilary French, Worldwatch Institute
UNESCO Future Forum, Paris
March 2, 2009
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Climate Challenges Posed by the
Economic Crisis
• Alternative energy companies are having
difficulties financing investments
• Energy intensive industries may oppose climate
regulation due to concerns about
competitiveness and potential job losses
• Foreign aid spending could be threatened,
complicating efforts to forge North-South deal on
climate change
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Climate Opportunities Linked with the
Economic Crisis
• Declining carbon emissions due to recession
may buy time for technological advances and
policy innovations
• Economic stimulus packages may generate
substantial funding for promoting low-carbon
energy paths (e.g. China, Germany, Japan,
South Korea, United States)
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Green Provisions of
US Stimulus Package
• The recently passed American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of
2009 ($787.2 billion total) includes more than $71 billion for clean
energy programs—more than tripling current spending on these
programs. For example:
– $4.5 billion for upgrading energy efficiency in government owned
buildings
– $5 billion for home weatherization programs to help low income families
reduce energy costs
– $2.5 billion for research on energy efficiency and renewable energy
– $9.3 billion for investments in rail transportation
– $500 million for job training in the energy efficiency and renewable
energy fields
• The stimulus package also includes $20 billion in clean energy tax
incentives (e.g. extension of the Production Tax Credit for wind and
other renewable energy programs).
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The Promise of Green Jobs
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Each $1 million invested in energy efficiency creates 21.5 new
jobs versus 11.5 for gas power generation.
• The building and construction sector employs more than 111
million people worldwide. Retrofitting the European Union's
residential building sector to cut carbon dioxide emissions by 75
percent would lead to some 2.6 million new jobs by 2030.
• Solar PVs create 7 -11 times more jobs per megawatt hour than
coal or gas.
• In China, renewable energy technologies employ an estimated 1
million people in the wind, solar PV, solar thermal, and biomass
industries.
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Green Jobs in Renewable Energy, Present and Future
• 2.3 million people are currently employed in the renewable energy sector globally.
• Projected investments of $630 billion by 2030 would translate into at least 20 million additional jobs.
SOURCE: UNEP/ILO Green Jobs Report
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From Crisis to Opportunity:
Towards a Global Green New Deal
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UNEP has recently called for an ambitious Global Green New Deal that would link
international efforts to respond to the economic crisis with efforts to address climate
change and other pressing global environmental problems. (For more information,
see http://www.unep.org/greeneconomy/.)
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In particular, UNEP advocates that one-third of the $2.5 trillion worth of planned
stimulus packages to be invested in efforts to “green” the world economy. This adds
up to $750 billion of investment, equal to about 1 percent of the current global GDP.
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Next month’s G20 Summit in London is an important opportunity to move towards a
low carbon global economy and a Global Green New Deal, paving the way for a
successful outcome at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in
Copenhagen in December.
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Given the urgency of both the economic crisis and the climate crisis, time is of the
essence.
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