Increasing investment can boost global GDP growth by 2050, while reducing the risk of climate change.
According to the report, green energy is able to bring nearly $ 100 trillion into the world economy between 2020 and 2050. Earnings per dollar of investment can be as high as $ 8.
The International Renewable Energy Agency has found that increasing investment in green energy will provide major economic benefits and will reduce the pace of climate change.
The agency’s director-general, Francesco La Camera, of the coronavirus pandemic outbreak has identified “vulnerabilities in the current system” and has forced governments in different countries to invest in renewable energy to relaunch economic growth and make some progress in the climate sector.
According to the agency’s report, increasing investment in green energy will help (temporarily) hold the climate crisis, and most importantly, it will pay off completely.
Investing in renewable energy will bring $ 98 trillion in global GDP by 2050. The return on investment will be in the range of $ 3-8 per dollar of investment.
The number of jobs in the sector will also increase fourfold to 42 million. As well as over the next 30 years, this will help raise overall health and well-being.
“The authorities of the countries must fulfill the difficult task of keeping the health sector under control and at the same time provide strong incentives for recovery,” La Camera said. “By accelerating the development of green energy and making changes in the energy sector, the power of countries can achieve many economic and social goals in pursuit of a cheerful future where there is no one left behind.”
The report also states that the expansion of renewable energy will help reduce global warming by reducing industrial carbon dioxide emissions by 70% by 2050 and replacing fossil fuels.
Renewable energy can play a very important role in actually reducing emissions by zero in the transport and heavy industries by 2050. Especially given the investment in green hydrogen.
Clean, non-emission combustion fuels, which can replace fossil fuels in the steel and cement industries, can be generated by clean electricity that will divide water into hydrogen and oxygen.
Andrew Steir, chairman of the World Resources Institute, said: “While the world is looking for a way to recover from the current health and economic crisis, we have a choice: a modern, clean, healthy energy system, or old-fashioned pollution all around. We have to choose the first option.”
The call for a green economic recovery from the coronavirus crisis was particularly drawn after the warning by Dr. Fatih Byrol, chairman of the International Energy Agency, who said that the authorities of world countries should not relax and stop green energy investments and changes in the energy sector.
“We must not stop the transition to clean energy because of the crisis,” he said. “We have an extremely important window of opportunity.”
Ignatius Galan, chairman of Spanish renewable energy giant Iberdrola, which also owns Scottish Power, said the company will continue to invest billions in renewable energy as well as in grids and batteries to help integrate clean energy into the overall grid.
“Green recovery is the main solution to the Covid-19 crisis. The world is benefiting economically, environmentally and socially by focusing on clean energy, ”he said. “Alignment of economic incentives and climate policy is key in the long term and the cornerstone of a healthy economy.”