Why 1%?
SCIENTIFIC STUDIES SHOW:
If 1% of world economic output were invested in sustainable energy annually worldwide - distributed fairly between rich and poor countries - three goals can be achieved:
1. The reduction of CO2 emissions to zero by 2050;
2. The alleviation of 2 billion people from energy poverty;
3. The creation of millions of new jobs.
Proof 1:
The Green Investment Report
"The Green Investment Report" (Geneva 2013) of the World Economic Forum describes the necessary global investment for a climate-neutral path. The total global investment for infrastructure measured in the business as usual scenario amounts to $ 5 trillion per year. These investments target telecommunications, water, agriculture, energy, buildings and industry etc. In order to achieve the climate goals, it is necessary to invest $ 700 billion annually in clean energy, energy efficiency and clean mobility. This additional amount represents 1.07% of global GDP in 2010.
These additional investments should be in the following areas: Buildings and Industry: $ 331 billion; Energy $ 139 billion; Mobility $ 187 billion; Forestry $ 40 billion.
Proof 2:
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change IPCC
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change IPCC summarises: “A transition to a low-GHG economy with higher shares of RE (Renewable Energies) would imply increasing investments in technologies and infrastructure. The four illustrative scenarios analysed in detail in this Special Report estimate global cumulative RE investments (in the power generation sector only) ranging from USD 1,360 to 5,100 billion for the decade 2011 to 2020, and from USD 1,490 to 7,180 billion for the decade 2021 to 2030. The lower values refer to the IEA World Energy Outlook 2009 Reference Scenario and the higher ones to a scenario that seeks to stabilize atmospheric CO2 (only) concentration at 450 ppm. The annual averages of these investment needs are all smaller than 1% of the world GDP.”
The total global investment for infrastructure measured in the business as usual scenario amounts to $5 trillion per year. These investments are aimed at telecommunications, water, agriculture, energy, buildings and industry etc. In order to achieve the climate goals it is necessary to invest $700 billion annually in clean energy, energy efficiency, clean mobility. This additional amount represents 1.07% of global GDP in 2010.
(IPCC - Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (2011): Special Report Renewable Energy Sources SRREN. Summary for Policy Makers. Cambridge and New York. Page 23).
Proof 3:
International Energy Agency IEA
The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates that investment in climate change mitigation should increase to $790 billion a year by 2020 (from an estimated $260 billion in 2013). By 2035, this will need to rise to $2.3 trillion annually. More than half of the investments will go into the field of energy efficiency. It is expected to grow eightfold by 2035 (starting from 2013). Low-carbon power generation is expected to increase threefold by 2035 (from 2013).
(International Energy Agency: World Energy Investment Outlook, Paris 2014)
Proof 4:
Solution network for sustainable development / IDDRI: Deep Carbonization Pathways Project
Science teams from 16 countries with the highest CO2 emissions have studied options for radical decarbonization by 2050. The 2015 synthesis report shows that ambitious decarbonisation can be combined with different national political priorities. For example, the fight against air pollution in China, the pursuit of energy security in India and Japan, or the fight against unemployment and poverty in South Africa.
„The gross investment requirement for low-carbon technologies in the DDPs must rise to an average 1.2 – 1.3% of GDP for the DDPP countries (up from their much lower level today). ...The net cost of deep decarbonization is substantially lower after accounting for reduced operating costs.... This is illustrated by the US case, in which the net cost of supplying and using energy for a decarbonized scenario in 2050 is equivalent to about 1% of GDP in that year.“
(Sustainable Development Solutions Network / IDDRI: Deep Carbonization Pathways Project, Paris, 2015, page 32 and 33. German Part by Wuppertal Institute: Manfred Fischedick, Katharina Hillebrandt, Saschsa Samadi)
