Greening the Global Economy develops a workable solution to stabilizing the global climate through investments in energy efficiency and clean renewable energy. The investment program advanced in the book will also generate millions of new job opportunities in all regions of the world. This is even after we allow for the dramatic and unavoidable contraction in the production and consumption of oil, coal, and natural gas. Burning these fossil fuels to generate energy is the single largest cause of climate change. The clean energy investment program does not require reductions in economic growth; ... More

Greening the Global Economy develops a workable solution to stabilizing the global climate through investments in energy efficiency and clean renewable energy. The investment program advanced in the book will also generate millions of new job opportunities in all regions of the world. This is even after we allow for the dramatic and unavoidable contraction in the production and consumption of oil, coal, and natural gas. Burning these fossil fuels to generate energy is the single largest cause of climate change. The clean energy investment program does not require reductions in economic growth; to the contrary, it will advance most effectively within a framework of healthy global growth. The book shows if we commit to investing every year approximately 1.5 percent of global GDP on energy efficiency and clean renewable energy investments, we can hit the CO2 emission reduction targets set by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The book’s focus is the intermediate, 20-year target of a 40 percent emissions cut relative to today. The book discusses the need for “just transition policies” for workers and communities that are presently dependent on fossil fuel industries for their livelihoods. It also describes prospects that will open up for small-scale enterprises, community enterprises, and cooperatives as an outgrowth of the transition away from fossil fuels to green energy and high efficiency.