World leaders took that decision during the 2015 Paris Climate Conference when they agreed to combat climate change, and accelerate and intensify the actions and investments needed for a sustainable low-carbon future. The global expenditure on energy investments right now is 1.6 trillion dollars a year. The new commitment, however, does not mean expenditures will increase, but rather that they will need to be shifted to clean energies. That is good for the environment, good for people’s health and good for the economy.
An Allianz study carried out in 2014 by the arrhenius Institute for Energy and Climate Policy concluded that a stringent energy transition in Germany would be cost-neutral compared to a fossil-fuel future – and the study did not even take into account the added benefits of improved air quality, fewer respiratory problems or new markets for local energy production as imported fuel becomes less attractive.
Germany is not the exception. A recent study carried out by the US journal Nature Climate Change found that the American electricity sector could cut greenhouse gases by 80 percent compared to 1990 levels in just 15 years by implementing an ambitious energy policy. And that without the price of electricity going up.
So, again the question: Where do you want your money to go?
To find out more about how the world’s 19 largest economies are faring in their efforts to transition to low-carbon economies, please see our new Allianz Climate and Energy Monitor.