The report titled Empirically grounded technology forecasts and the energy transition derives from a collaboration between the Institute for New Economic Thinking at the Oxford Martin School, the Oxford Martin Programme on the Post-Carbon Transition, the Smith School of Enterprise & Environment at the University of Oxford, and SoDa Labs at Monash University.
Professor Doyne Farmer told BBC News that.. “Even if you’re a climate denier, you should be on board with what we’re advocating…..Our central conclusion is that we should go full speed ahead with the green energy transition because it’s going to save us money,” ($12tn by 2050!). The report cites examples of cost predictions made by the IPPC and in the UK by Philip Hammond which it claims are erroneous and have been a deterrent to investment.
The report states that scaling up green technologies (solar and wind) will continue to drive down their costs. Why not also encourage the investment needed by putting a steadily rising price on the carbon content of fossil fuels to reflect their true cost to society and further encourage the uptake of renewables, returning the revenue to the populace to compensate for the rising prices of said fossil fuels during the transition period, aka Climate Income?
Three former UNFCCC Executive Secretaries speak out.