Whilst leaders in many nations discuss ambitious targets for reducing emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs), there is also an intense debate underway regarding the technical and economic feasibility of different target levels, what emission reduction opportunities should be pursued, and the costs of different options for meeting the targets.
To provide a quantitative basis for such discussions, McKinsey & Company, supported by ten leading global companies and organisations - The Carbon Trust, ClimateWorks, Enel, Entergy, Holcim, Honeywell, Shell, Vattenfall, Volvo, WWF - has assessed more than 200 GHG abatement opportunities across 10 major sectors and 21 world regions between now and 2030. The results comprise an in-depth evaluation of the potential, costs and investment required for each of those measures.
“This report provides further evidence that we can grow our economy and cut greenhouse gas emissions at the same time,” said Dr. Richard Moss, WWF vice president for climate change. “If the policies were in place to force the broader deployment of the technologies highlighted in this report, thousands of new jobs would be created across the country. And these new job-generating technologies would put us on a path for dramatically reducing emissions and keeping global average temperatures from rising above the dangerous threshold of 2 degrees Celsius, or 3.5 degrees Fahrenheit.”
Pathways to a Low Carbon Economy, one of the largest and most detailed reports of its kind, lists more than 200 opportunities, spread across ten sectors and twenty-one geographical regions, that have the potential to cut global greenhouse gas emissions by 55 percent below 1990 levels by 2030, a reduction of 70 percent from the business as usual scenario. The study was supported by ten sponsors, including World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and energy, automotive and technology companies.
“The report demonstrates that we can save money for consumers if we enact some relatively straightforward policies and measures to overcome market barriers and failures that impede adoption of low-cost energy efficiency and alternative energy technologies,” said Moss. “By reducing energy consumption, we could also lower energy imports and increase our energy security.”
By 2030, the report finds that wind, solar and other sustainable renewable energy sources could be rapidly scaled up, while energy efficiency could reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than a quarter. The report states that deforestation in developing countries, the source of nearly 20 percent of global emissions and a major threat to sustainable development, could be almost fully halted.
The McKinsey study has been extensively peer-reviewed by scientists, economists and expert bodies, including WWF. It presents its findings in the form of an “abatement cost curve” which graphically illustrates the sectors in which the most cost-effective carbon reductions can be made.
Related Links
http://globalghgcostcurve.bymckinsey.comhttp://www.worldwildlife.org
