Corporate climate policy will survive oil downturn
Thursday, January 29, 2015
Significance
According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), averting a 2 degree increase in global temperature would require US businesses to reduce emissions by 1.2 Gigatonnes of carbon dioxide-equivalent (CO2-e) from 2010 levels, or 3% every year. Private sector techniques developed in the United States can spread elsewhere, including India, the world's third largest emitter of greenhouse gases (GHG).
Impacts
- Some GHG reduction projects justified by transportation-related cost savings may become less viable as oil prices continue to fall.
- This impact is expected to be minor, resulting in slight reprioritisation of projects.
- Clean energy economics continue to trend towards grid parity with conventional fossil fuel.
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