Keeping climate catastrophe at bay is affordable

The findings, published in Climate Change Economics, suggest that $1.1 trillion would need to be invested every year, on average, in clean energy between 2010 and 2050 to meet the goal. Already some $300 billion is being spent annually, meaning there is presently a “clean-energy investment gap” of about $800 billion a year.

That’s obviously a ton of money. But about $1 trillion is already being invested on energy projects every year worldwide. And compare the size of the investment gap with the $500 billion or more being doled out every year in the form of government subsidies that help support fossil fuel operations. . . .

To meet the two-degree goal, around 900 gigatons less global carbon dioxide and equivalent pollution would need to be released this century than would have been the case if no action were taken. In this graph from the new paper, gray shading shows pollution levels forecast by different models if there were no clean-energy investment. The red shows projected emissions under the current $200 to $250 billion a year in clean-energy investments, rising to a planned $400 billion. Blue shows how emissions would fall to needed levels if the investment gap closed.
“Technologically, there’s no reason we can’t rise to the challenge,” McCollum says. “It’s more a question of politics, and that appears to present a major challenge in every country, even in the more progressive countries of the world.”