Analysis: Climate action could bring $26 trillion economic boost, but we’re wasting time

Experts have been significantly underestimating the commercial benefits associated with climate action according to a major new report, which calculates how the global economy could enjoy a $26 trillion boost by 2030 if efforts to stop climate change are scaled up.

The latest analysis, released last week by the Global Commission on the Economy and Climate, found that if global infrastructure investment over the next 15 years is channeled into environmentally beneficial schemes such as renewable energy and green transport, the economic and social benefits are likely to far outweigh any costs.

Alongside a $26 trillion economic boost, the analysis also found that ambitious climate action to cut emissions from energy generation, cities, industry and agriculture could usher in 65 million new low-carbon jobs and avoid more than 700,000 premature deaths from air pollution, compared to a business-as-usual scenario through to 2030.

Read  Analysis: Climate action could bring $26 trillion economic boost, but we’re wasting time by Madeline Cuff and James Murray at Green Biz.