In the past, international climate change negotiations like those underway in Paris focused mostly on policy (and politics, of course). But the Paris talks kicked off with two announcements focused squarely on clean energy innovation:
- Canada, along with 19 other nations, joined Mission Innovation — an initiative led by U.S. President Barack Obama aimed at doubling the amount of public funding for clean energy research. For Canada, that means an injection of $300 million into research and development.
- In the private sector, Bill Gates and more than 20 other billionaires launched the Breakthrough Energy Coalition. The members have committed to investing some of their collective $350 billion of wealth in early-stage companies with the potential to deliver energy with near-zero carbon emissions. Why? The reason is simple, said Gates: “We need to move faster than the energy sector ever has.”
Innovation, and the research that drives it, is a critical component of the clean energy transition that needs to occur to prevent the worst impacts of climate change. But, as SunEdison founder Jigar Shah and other commentators have noted, that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t aggressively pursue deployment of clean energy solutions that already exist.
What would those be? According to a new report by Goldman Sachs, investors should focus on increasing deployment of four technologies: solar photovoltaics, onshore wind, LED lighting and electric vehicles. That verdict is supported by researchers at MIT, who looked at the clean energy deployment that nations are promising in their climate plans: global solar installations will grow fivefold, and wind will nearly triple by 2030. That deployment will not only cut pollution, but also drive further cost reductions to the tune of 50 per cent for solar photovoltaics and 25 per cent for wind. How’s that for a virtuous circle?
On the ground in Paris, my colleague Zoë Caron has been tracking all the latest developments, from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s opening remarks to a session hosted by the Canadian Labour Congress on ensuring a just transition for energy workers. And of course there was Mark Carney and Mike Bloomberg’s discussion of the financial risks of climate change.
Bringing it back to Canada, CBC’s The National ran a great feature story on "Canada’s Race to Clean Energy." It’s worth watching as a scene-setter for the Paris talks and the role that clean energy can play in delivering climate action in Canada. (ICYMI, the Canadian Council on Renewable Electricity’s recent report Powering Climate Prosperity outlines the dominant role renewables will play in a low-carbon economy.)
I’ve now joined my colleague Zoë Caron on the ground in Paris, so follow us on Twitter (@merransmith and @ZoeCaron) for real-time updates from the global climate summit.
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