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Curbing global warming could cost $1 trillion
30/Sep/2006: According to a new study by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), we may have to spend $1 trillion to reduce the increasing emissions of greenhouse gases in future.
This study, on the cost of climate change, is considered to be significant in today’s context and it shows that the volume of emissions of greenhouse gases, which are responsible for global warming, could double from its current levels, by 2050, if developed countries do not initiate necessary policy steps the curb global warming.
The PwC report has uncovered the potential damage to the environment, which might be induced by the industrial revolution in China and India. It estimates the cost for reducing greenhouse gas emissions to be $1 trillion, over the next generation.
John Hawksworth, the chief economist at PwC and the author of the report said that this cost is worth incurring to prevent the environmental catastrophe, which might be caused by the rising temperatures and sea levels, over the next few decades. Such an environmental catastrophe could kill thousands of people and decimate the economies of many countries.
PwC wants the developed nations to take more drastic actions to control the environmental impact of global warming, as these countries have remained the main contributors to global warming.
According to PwC, the economic growth projections for the seven largest emerging economies (E7) Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Russia and turkey, implies that the carbon emissions will double by 2050. It is estimated that if countries stick on to their current policies to reduce energy use by 1% a year, carbon emissions will rise from its current level of 7 gigatons to 15 gigatons a year, by 2050. If countries abandon their current policies to reduce energy use by 1% per year, then the carbon emissions would reach 24 gigatons by 2050.
Mr. Hawksworth said that even if the world adopts radical strategies to reduce dependence on fossil fuels and to cut consumption of energy, the carbon emissions would still remain at the current levels and will not fall, until a lot more is done by the developed world to curb the emissions.
The report has given a wish list of measures, which may help us in reducing the carbon emissions by 2050 and it includes, investments in hydrogen-based technologies, cutting the reliance on coal by switching to nuclear or renewable energies (especially in countries like India and China), storing carbon dioxide underground or undersea etc., Even though India and China have endorsed the Kyoto Protocol they do not have to meet their targets to reduce their emissions of carbon dioxide and five other greenhouse gases.
K Siva
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