30 Nov 2023 - Climate finance, loss and damage funds, clean energy and decarbonizing hard-to-abate sectors will all be on the agenda at COP28, said Jeffrey Beyer on Asharq Bloomberg this afternoon.
Asked about the trillions of dollars that are needed to be invested in climate solutions, Beyer pointed to the central role that the private sector will play in closing the funding gap. It is up to governments to create the conditions for private finance to flow, and to stimulate investment in research, development and innovation to bring down costs of low carbon technologies.
Renewable energy is sometimes seen as a costly path for decarbonization, but Beyer pointed out the dramatic fall in prices for solar (90% cheaper than 10 years ago) and wind (65% cheaper). In virtually all countries around the world, renewables are now less expensive that fossil fuels on a lifetime basis.
When asked about strategies to accelerate investment, Beyer highlighted the £1.3 trillion in fossil fuel subsidies that were given out in 2022. Removing these subsidies would create a level playing field for clean technologies, while redirecting this investment towards clean energy would have a dramatic impact on deployment.
The industrial sector also plays a large part in the decarbonziation story. Industry remains one of the hardest sectors to decarbonize. To reduce emissions, industry should first focus on energy efficieny, then look at fuel switching, and finally, invest significant capital to retool the foundations that power heavy industries, including innovations in cement, electric arc furnaces in aluminum, direct reduced iron in the steel industry and fuel switching for heat.
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