Three Years And $3 Trillion To Save The World Climate And Economy

Sydney Morning Herald - Nick O'Malley

For a cost of $US3 trillion ($4.35 trillion) spent over three years from 2021 the world could force greenhouse gas emissions into permanent decline and boost global economic growth by 1.1 per cent a year under a post-pandemic economic plan outlined by the International Energy Agency last night.

"Governments have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reboot their economies and bring a wave of new employment opportunities while accelerating the shift to a more resilient and cleaner energy future," said Dr Fatih Birol, the IEA executive director, launching the so-called Sustainable Recovery Plan as part of its flagship World Energy Outlook series.

Dr Fatih Birol. Credit: Sean Davey

The cost would constitute 0.7 per cent of the current world GDP and would include both public and private spending, designed to save or create nine million jobs a year and cut 4.5 billion tonnes of greenhouse gases – leaving 2019 as the high tide mark for emissions.

The analysis is being released as governments around the world begin the second phase of stimulus spending, designed to rebuild economies rather than simply respond to the unfolding crisis.

"Policymakers are having to make hugely consequential decisions in a very short space of time as they draw up stimulus packages," said Dr Birol. "Our Sustainable Recovery Plan provides them with rigorous analysis and clear advice on how to tackle today's major economic, energy and climate challenges at the same time.

"The plan is not intended to tell governments what they must do. It seeks to show them what they can do."

According to the IEA's analysis, about 3 million jobs have already been lost or are at risk of being lost in the energy sector around the world, with a similar amount lost or at risk in related areas, such as manufacturing and construction.

The largest portion of new jobs created should the plan be adopted would be in retrofitting buildings to improve energy efficiency and in the electricity sector, particularly in investment grids and renewables, the report says.

According to the report investment new clean energy has benefits that extend beyond the environment or the energy sector, because it boosts employment while delivering more affordable and reliable power to the wider economy.

"This in turn helps to support higher employment and activity levels in all parts of the economy," the report says.

It says that enhancing electricity grids, upgrading hydropower facilities, extending the lifetimes of nuclear power plants, and increasing energy efficiency would improve electricity security by lowering the risk of outages, reducing losses and helping integrate larger shares of variable renewables such as wind and solar power.

The report notes that the stimulus packages introduced by governments after the 2009 financial crisis caused greenhouse gas emissions to spike during the recovery, but that since then the cost of clean energy technologies has fallen dramatically – and some emerging technologies like batteries and hydrogen are ready to scale up.

As a result such an emissions rebound could be avoided if governments adopt the right policies.

Dr Birol said that IEA – which in the past has been criticised for its support for fossil fuels – was seeking to support a "grand coalition" of government and business leaders and investors to help tackle climate change through the pandemic response.

Links

• World Energy Outlook Special Report: Sustainable Recovery
• International Energy Agency offers world governments a Sustainable Recovery Plan to boost economic growth, create millions of jobs and put emissions into structural decline
• Electric car sales this year resist Covid-19’s blow to global car market
• The pandemic and a mild winter have delivered a historic shock to the global natural gas market
• Uneven progress on clean energy technologies faces further pressure from the Covid-19 crisis
• Global energy leaders highlight need for greater investment in clean, secure and sustainable electricity systems amid Covid-19 crisis
• Covid-19 is intensifying the urgent need to expand sustainable energy solutions worldwide
• The Covid-19 crisis is causing the biggest fall in global energy investment in history
• In new policy review, IEA commends Austria’s efforts to accelerate its clean energy transition
• The Covid-19 crisis is hurting but not halting global growth in renewable power capacity
• Dan Dorner starts as new Head of the Clean Energy Ministerial Secretariat
• Global energy demand to plunge this year as a result of the biggest shock since the Second World War
• IEA and Denmark host ministerial roundtable discussion on making clean energy a key part of the global economic recovery