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This report argues that a worldwide effort to lower atmospheric carbon concentrations to 350 parts per million is affordable: it can create more new jobs, spur more innovation and protect businesses, governments and households from the damages caused by the rapid heating of the Earth.
The report concludes that the estimated cost of reaching a target of 350 parts per million is roughly equivalent to one to three percent of world gross domestic product. However, the financial, human and environmental cost of not stabilizing the earth at 350 parts per million over the next 200 years will likely be much greater.
– The reason people buy fire insurance is not because they are certain that their house will burn down; rather, it is because they cannot be certain that it won’t. A carbon target of 350 parts per million buys us insurance against catastrophic climate change, says Frank Ackerman, lead author of the report along with Elizabeth Stanton.
Emissions-free by 2050
To reach a target of 350 parts per million by 2200, the report finds that the world would have to be virtually emissions-free by mid-century.
– If we begin aggressive reforestation efforts combined with ending large-scale deforestation, and if we can develop new technologies such as carbon capture and storage to remove carbon from the atmosphere, we can achieve 350-partsper-million sooner and reduce the risks of catastrophic climate change, Ackerman says.
Download report here (pdf, 2,66 mb)
Other publication / Gary Haq contributed six entries relating to climate change for this research encyclopaedia.
Event on 23 April in New York City / SEI's Finance for Sustainable Development team will explore financing solutions for clean energy in Sub-Saharan Africa at this UN side event.
Journal article / Using arts-based approaches, researchers worked with communities in Nairobi to empower people to take action on air pollution.
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