According to a report published by the State Innovation Fund Sitra on Friday, it is possible for the world’s countries to achieve ambitious climate goals and at the same time achieve economic growth.
However, the authors of the report noted that countries still need to take strong measures to meet their targets of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (or a maximum of 2 degrees Celsius) in line with the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.
The report was written by a group of economists around the world and said the goals of the international agreement can still be achieved without stopping economic growth.
According to the researchers, they disagreed with the general perception that the goals of economic growth and emission reductions were in conflict.
The economy grew, emissions fell
The researchers also noted that while the EU economy grew by more than 50 percent between 1990 and 2016, the bloc also reduced carbon emissions by 25 percent.
According to the group, public policy was the basis for achieving both goals.
"There are countries where economic growth has continued as emissions have fallen," Professor of Economics Paul Ekins University College London told Yle.
However, Sitraโs leading expert, Saara Tamminen, said just because it is possible to combine improved climate and economic goals, it does not mean that economic growth can continue so far.
He warned that the continuation of current economic practices could lead to serious ecological, economic and social consequences.
The story continues after the picture.
At the same time, Professor Ekins said achieving the 1.5 degree target is challenging, but believes it is still possible.
"It is very difficult to achieve what we still have to achieve. I think itโs pretty unlikely that weโll manage to keep it below 1.5 degrees," he said, pointing out that limiting the global temperature rise to 1.6 degrees instead of two degrees would still be a significant achievement.
Achieving these goals will require ambitious and coherent policies in all sectors of the economy, but political promises must also be realized in the coming decades.
The report stated that in order to achieve climate goals, all countries must stop using coal as an energy source, and added that new technologies must also be used to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
In addition, researchers recommend that industry should switch to zero-emission energy sources instead of fossil fuels.
However, Ekins pointed out that the biggest obstacles were with policy makers and others, saying he was most concerned about the worldโs political systems and the general decline in the appreciation of science.
Source: The Nordic Page