Better Growth Better Economy

Lord Stern's New Climate Economy report argues we can tackle climate change without harming the economy. Seven key lessons emerge from the report, according to a recent article in the Guardian. 1. Greener cities would be cheaper to build. 2. Repair farmland. 3. Renewables could supply half of our new electricity supplies. 4. Ditch fossil fuel subsidies. 5. Use green bonds to fund the transition to a low carbon world. 6. Invest in research and development to spur innovation. 7. And we need government leadership.

Surely, this is not a difficult agenda for government leaders everywhere to adopt, what is stopping them. To read the Stern report, click here. To read more about how emerging technologies can speed this transformation, the World Resources Institute has just released a very interesting analysis, entitled Seeing is Believing: Creating a New Economy in the United States.

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Clive Splash, in a report just published by the Institute for Environment and Development at the Vienna University of Economics and Business gives a thoughtful critique of this report in which he argues that economic growth is incompatible with effective climate change action. The main thrust of the report is that Stern has not adequately considered the key role of fossil fuels, primarily oil, in driving our economic model.
The Splash report is available here: http://www-sre.wu.ac.at/sre-disc/sre-disc-2014_04.pdf