Financial Times: Business Leaders Warn of Lack of Progress on Emissions

The world population has grown by about 80 million people annually since the year 2000, but countries make little progress in reducing greenhouse gas emissions to limit global warming. The Global Commission on the Economy and Climate, a group of corporate executives and political leaders, warns the world is missing an opportunity. The commission describes the next decade as a “‘use it or lose it’ moment in economic history” for putting “the world on a path of low-emissions growth” and calls for doubling or even tripling the current price of $23.70 per ton for carbon dioxide emissions by 2020. Policy frameworks encouraging investments in infrastructure that reduce emissions, like battery storage, would lift economic growth, argues Lord Nicholas Stern, an economist who co-chairs the commission. Writing for the Financial Times, Ed Crooks concludes, “Over the next 15 years, the world is expected to invest about $90tn in infrastructure, roughly doubling the current stock, giving a window of just a few years to put in place policy frameworks to drive that investment into technologies and assets that help reduce emissions.” – YaleGlobal