Don’t Invest in Current Clean Energy, Back Future Technology

There’s a lot of focus now on the politics of Paris. Will poor countries get the "climate aid" they want? Will China agree to reduce its growth, leaving millions more in poverty, by committing to far-reaching carbon cuts? What will be the wording of the treaty that emerges?

It’s easy to become cynical. Let’s instead take a step back and ask a much more interesting question: what would it take for Paris to succeed? By this, I don’t mean that the delegates manage to sign some kind of treaty. I mean, what would it take for Paris to have a real impact on climate change?

Joe Biden will rejoin the Paris climate agreement soon after being inaugurated as president of the United States. Climate change, according to Biden, is “an existential threat” to the nation, and to combat it, he proposes to spend $500 billion each year on climate policies — the equivalent of $1,500 per person.

2011-06-14 How to Set Goals

COPENHAGEN – At this century’s start, leaders from every country agreed to pursue the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals. The ambition was to improve significantly the lot of the planet’s most disadvantaged citizens before 2015. (...) Read it online BL Op-ed 2011-6 June How to set Goals.pdf