Climate action requires economic growth to prove it doesn't ... - Clean Energy Wire
Climate action requires economic growth to prove it doesn't undermine prosperity - Scholz | Clean Energy Wire
Climate action requires economic growth to prove it doesn't undermine prosperity – Scholz
Clean Energy Wire
Effective climate action in Germany and Europe will require sustained economic growth to demonstrate that a more sustainable way of living is possible without giving up prosperity, German chancellor Olaf Scholz has said in a speech at the country’s Sustainable Development Council ( RNE). “Our task is to enable growth without destroying the planet,” he said at the RNE’s annual conference, arguing that only a capable and competitive economy would allow Germany to conduct the investments needed for transforming the economy while maintaining a leading position, and serve as a role model at a global scale. “The countries of the global South will not let us tell them to forego growth in order to save the climate.” The significant reduction in poverty around the world over the past 30 years could primarily be traced back to economic development and growth. “And that’s why it is so important that we here in Europe develop the requisite technologies, try them out and show the whole world: it works,” Scholz said, adding that Germany especially had to greatly speed up its efforts to roll out renewable power installations.
The chancellor said the “classic industrialised states” historically are responsible for a large part of greenhouse gas emissions – “even if countries like China by now have giant emitters themselves.” He stressed that Germany has tripled its contributions to international climate action funding to 6 billion euros since 2014 and that industrialised countries would likely raise up to 100 billion euros. However, “we also expect countries that traditionally have not been donors to contribute to international climate finance in the future,” he added.
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Related Knowledge Center: Climate economics
Climate change is now a driver of the world’s economy. The impact is profound:
- Catastrophic weather events — hurricanes, floods, droughts, high temperatures — are more frequent and more extreme. The cost can be measured in both the initial damage caused and the longer-term impact on the economy.
- Vulnerable communities are increasing climate-related investments, hardening infrastructure and taking other protective measures.
- Investment in carbon capture and storage technologies is increasingly rapidly.
- Governments are making investments and crafting regulations to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
On top of all of this is the cost of uncertainty. As the Fourth National Climate Assessment, released in 2018 by the U.S. Global Change Research Program, says, “The assumption that current and future climate conditions will resemble the recent past is no longer valid.”