I Believe
I believe that the current financial crisis and the economic setback the world is suffering is the perfect opportunity to begin “de-carbonizing” the world. Experts and indeed some politicians have argued that because of the deteriorating economic circumstances fighting climate change is a luxury they cannot afford, categorizing it as a secondary political objective. In my opinion, it is a comprehensible perspective, for many heads of States are afraid that major investments might escalate the situation. But I believe this view is short-sighted; a low-carbon economy is essential to the economic recovery –especially in the long term- and not an optional bolt on.
Economists argue that in order to kick-start the economy governments across the world need to invest in major infrastructure in order to stimulate demand in the economy, increase investment and create more jobs. This presents us with the unique opportunity to start creating the low-carbon infrastructure we need, such as more renewable energy generation, better public transportation networks, improved electricity grids, and a network of pipelines to carry captured CO2 from fossil fuel plants to storage facilities.
Investing in these types of technologies, along with the implementation of measures and policies to structure financial and industrial markets to deliver social and environmental goods, will re-ignite the economy, reduce our dependency on fossil fuels, and improve energy and climate security.
The political will has demonstrated its effectiveness when stabilizing the banking crisis. Therefore, the same political will is needed to fight the current economic setback and the environmental issues that are yet to come. Hence, international political agreement is needed on how to incur climate change beyond 2012. In fact, the world’s attention is now on the UN summit in Copenhagen in 2009, where major negotiations will take place. The price of carbon is another issue that needs to be taken into consideration. Having a global carbon market, where the price of carbon will be regulated and maintained at a significant financial value, will help drive CO2 out of the economy.
These measures do not just reduce CO2 emissions, but have immense economic benefits. By driving investment into a cleaner technology and diversifying our sources of energy, we can help reduce the price volatility of oil, and create more jobs in all sectors of the economy. These benefits would not be felt only by developed nations, but by developing nations too, who also have a lot to gain. By transitioning into a cleaner technology, expanding their research on the topic, and diversifying their sources of energy, they can attract inward investment into clean energy, and the price of energy and fuel will reduce significantly.
We live in a changing world. One that is vulnerable to everything that happens within the planet and outside. The current economic crisis in the United States affected all nations across the globe. Thousands of people lost their jobs, thousands of companies went bankrupt, and heads of states are worried that the problem might escalate. On top of that, we have the issue of global warming and that every day, the ozone layer ruptures even more. The time is now to start thinking about future generations. We need to ask ourselves if what we are doing will benefit the world on the long term or just on the short term, leaving future generations vulnerable to the unknown consequences of our acts. I believe that reducing our dependency on oil is a crucial, yet extremely difficult task that can at least be commenced by investing in “greener” technology.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7680624.stm
