GLOBAL EMISSIONS GOALS HAS BIG COST AND POLITICAL HURDLES

Countries aiming to sharply reduce their emissions to meet climate change goals must be prepared for staggering costs and political hurdles. The International Renewable Energy Agency, an intergovernmental organization based in Abu Dhabi is of the opinion that to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius as per climate goals made at the 2015 Paris accord which has been revived by President Biden on the Earth Day, the world needs to invest very heavily in clean technology by 2050 in solar power and electrical vehicles.

Environmentalists and some economists are of the opinion that changes would translate to innovative technologies and job creation, while saving million lives annually from lowering air pollution and circumventing higher water levels that would inundate coastal cities. The upfront cost will be a challenge requiring revamp across many sectors, including steel production, agriculture and cargo shipping. Much of the world’s hopes for reducing carbon emissions rest on China and India which are heavily dependent on coal.

The U.S.President plans to double financing for low income countries for climate-reduction programmes and also requesting private businesses to develop green-friendly initiatives.

Indian policymakers are also increasingly uncomfortable at buying solar equipment from China which has slowed down the climate change reduction process as solar equipment sourced from other countries is costlier.

As a result of this the German electricity prices rose sharply over the past decade to help pay for the country’s shift away from nuclear energy and coal to renewables. There will be higher taxes on fuels and vehicles in some countries. This experience made France to be more business-friendly centrist and the country is unlikely to meet climate targets. The E.U. also faces hurdles to its climate change goals because of its Eastern European members’ dependence on burning coal to produce electricity.