Calderon Says Fighting Climate Change Is Profitable Alex Morales - Bloomberg
go to original June 26, 2014

Curbing climate change is profitable and nations must offer business incentives for low-carbon growth to cut fossil-fuel reliance, according to former president of Mexico, Felipe Calderon.

Countries must act jointly and in a “comprehensive” way, targeting the energy industry, cities, agriculture and forests as the main areas where runaway greenhouse gas emissions can be reined in, Calderon said in an interview in London. The former leader is now chairman of the Global Commission on the Economy and Climate, a panel set up by seven nations including the U.K. to advise on the best ways to tackle global warming.

“It’s completely possible to both get economic growth and to tackle climate change,” said Calderon, a former chairman of state oil company Petroleos Mexicanos. “The traditional trade-off that a lot of people talk about between growth and responsibility to the environment is a false dilemma.”

Calderon’s commission is drawing up a list of 10 recommendations that it will present to governments before a climate summit of world leaders convened by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for Sept. 23. The panel is discussing proposals including ending fossil fuel subsidies, spurring extra research into renewable energy and storage technologies, and improving city planning, he said.

“Probably close to 40 percent of the effort that needs to be made can be reached picking low hanging fruits, most of them related to energy efficiency measures,” Calderon said. Simple measures such as replacing incandescent light bulbs with LEDs can cut 80 percent off the power use of a light, he said.

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