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‘We Are the World’ Approach Best to Beat CO2, Report Says
Tackling carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions would mitigate global warming but also would be a boon to employment and gross domestic product (GDP) in the world’s major economies, according to a new report by international nongovernmental organization The Climate Group.
The report, titled “Cutting the Cost,” claims that global collaboration could significantly cut the cost of climate change mitigation and aims to give confidence to world leaders meeting at the United Nations (UN) General Assembly meeting Tuesday and at the G20 meeting in Pittsburgh later this week before negotiations at the UN’s Copenhagen, Denmark, climate summit in December.
The findings indicate that under a global deal involving all countries, efforts to cut emissions can:
“The enormous cost savings that can be achieved if countries act together are striking,” said Tony Blair, former UK prime minister and founder of the Climate Deadlock Initiative. “Even ignoring the costs of climate change itself, the world can benefit economically from action to cut emissions.”
According to the report, the reduction in necessary carbon price that accrues as more countries participate in CO2 reduction efforts “is a simple reflection of the larger pool of low-cost carbon reduction opportunities available under a multilateral agreement and the fact that, as markets grow, new technologies become commercially viable. Results show it would take a carbon price of $65/ton of CO2 for the EU [European Union] to cut its energy-related CO2 emissions by 30% by 2020 operating alone. This falls to $28/ton of CO2 when the U.S. joins in an agreement, and potentially to very low levels (about $4/ton of CO2) in the case of a global agreement.”
Blair presented the report to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon at the opening ceremony of ClimateWeek NYC.
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