Green money: how much is the energy transition really going to cost?

绿色资金:能源转型究竟要付出多少代价?

Money Talks from The Economist

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2024-11-15

48 分钟
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Countries around the world finally agreed on the need to transition away from fossil fuels at last year's COP summit. The latest climate conference is now underway in Baku, Azerbaijan. But how much is the immense transition to clean and green energy really going to cost? And who is going to pay for it? Hosts: Mike Bird and Alice Fulwood. Guests: The Economist's Gavin Jackson; and Adair Turner, Chair of the Energy Transition Commission. For more on COP29, check out the latest episode of our “Babbage” podcast, in which our correspondent travels to South Africa for lessons on how to end coal. Transcripts of our podcasts are available via economist.com/podcasts. Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—subscribe to Economist Podcasts+.
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  • Last year's COP28 summit held in Dubai was the biggest climate conference ever.

  • Of the 100,000 delegates who attended the annual event,

  • where governments discuss how to limit and prepare for future climate change,

  • around 2,400 of them were people connected to the oil, coal and gas industries.

  • The destination itself... is one of the world's biggest petrostates.

  • Nonetheless...

  • Overnight, a historic breakthrough at COP28,

  • sending a strong signal that the world will move toward a greener future.

  • In the wording of the final statement,

  • countries agreed to contribute to the transition away from fossil fuels in the energy system.

  • Fearing no objection, it is so decided.

  • The deal was gaveled in by the COP28 president, Sultan al-Jabeer,

  • who also happens to be the chief executive of the UAE's state-owned oil company.

  • He congratulated those assembled.

  • And we have language on fossil fuel in our final agreement for the first time ever.

  • The agreement included global targets to triple the capacity of renewable energy like wind and solar power by 2030,

  • but it lacked a timeline for any green energy transition or any rules to make countries take action.

  • While the statement may have been kept intentionally woolly, one thing is crystal clear.

  • Switching energy systems to ones that don't emit greenhouse gases is going to take a lot of money.

  • whether it's in investments or increased costs.