Corporate climate policy will survive oil downturn

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.