This report is very important to know about, and to understand in the times and in the political climate we live in. It is called ‘ENERGY DARWINISM II – Why a Low Carbon Future Doesn’t Have to Cost the Earth’ It was published by Citi Global Perspectives & Solutions (Citi GPS), a division within Citibank which is America’s third-largest bank. The Citi report looks at the economic costs and benefits of a low-carbon future. It finds – and this is what everyone needs to understand – that investments in cutting carbon pollution will save money, before even accounting for the tremendous savings from avoiding climate damage costs. The report states: “What is perhaps most surprising is that looking at the potential total spend on energy over the next quarter century, on an undiscounted basis the cost of following a low carbon route at $190.2 trillion is actually cheaper than our ‘Inaction’ scenario at $192 trillion.” In other words: “the green transition” will be $1.8 trillion cheaper than the current inaction. It is estimated that the green transition will cause a minimal additional cost of 0.1 per cent of world GDP by 2025 - and from then on we begin to save money because of higher energy efficiency as a result of the investments. The Citi report then asks the trillion-dollar question – if tackling global warming is such an economic no-brainer, what are we waiting for? The answer is that while the global economy would clearly benefit from climate action, it would create “stranded assets” for the fossil fuel industry, because a large percentage of known fossil fuel reserves must be kept in the ground if we’re to avoid dangerous climate change. And the fossil fuel industry has extensive influence over many world governments. » Download the report here: https://ir.citi.com/hsq32Jl1m4aIzicMqH8sBkPnbsqfnwy4Jgb1J2kIPYWIw5eM8yD3FY9VbGpK%2Baax (PDF, 132 pages) » Read more about it in The Guardian: http://www.theguardian.com/environment/climate-consensus-97-per-cent/2015/aug/31/citi-report-slowing-global-warming-would-save-tens-of-trillions-of-dollars
