By Jigar Shah: This week, business and non-profit leaders will meet in New York, for ClimateWeekNYºC, calling for bold climate action to secure a cleaner, greener, more prosperous future.
As they gather, this much is evident: Government and the general public do not believe that climate change solutions can scale to meet the problem, nor do they accept that reducing our carbon emissions by the 17 gigatons necessary to stabilize global temperatures won’t harm economic growth. So, to build the political will and garner public consensus, we need to convince them that it isn’t a choice between the economy and the environment.
As CEO of the Carbon War Room, I see ClimateWeekNYºC as a tremendous opportunity for us to convene as a community, identifying the best path for a transition towards a low-carbon economy.
By expanding our efforts to focus on new financial and economic tools we can capitalize on the largest wealth creation opportunity of our lifetime. Today, there are cost-effective climate change solutions capable of reducing 17 gigatons of carbon from our atmosphere which at the same time save people money and stimulate the economy. In fact, as reported by McKinsey & Company, 50 percent of all carbon reductions can be achieved without adding any undue burdens to consumers. Unfortunately, market failures are preventing capital from flowing to more sustainable low carbon solutions. Read on