Engaging climate change makes economic sense. Here’s Why.

From the United Nations to the street corner activist, we are inundated with the grave imperative to save the world from climate change. But does not implementing climate-friendly practices and policies cost money? And won’t that money be diverted from other things we enjoy now, reducing our quality of life?

The answer is a definitive no. If saving the planet is not incentive enough, there is another carrot to entice: Money. And lots of it.

There is more reason to engage the climate crisis than reigning in runaway warming, severe weather, drought, ecosystem instability, etc. So many of the solutions to climate change are in fact solutions to other problems humanity faces. Instituting climate-friendly practices are no-regrets, meaning even if climate change was a farce, we will be better off.

“[I]f we cut our current greenhouse gas emissions in half over the next 10 years, we open the door to an exciting world where cities are green, the air is clean, energy and transport are efficient, jobs in a fair economy are abundant, and forests, soil and waters are regenerated,” says Christiana Figueres, the architect of the Paris Climate Agreement. “Our world will be safer and healthier, more stable and more just than what we have now.”

Solutions to climate change: More than just carbon

“Climate solutions are never just climate solutions.” Drawdown Review

Combating climate change will cost money. But the net operational savings of climate solutions exceed implementation costs four to five times.

Project Drawdown is the world’s foremost curator of climate solutions. The organization has meticulously sussed out the most substantive solutions to climate change, handpicking what humanity can do right now to reduce emissions, drawdown carbon from the atmosphere, and reverse the trends of global warming. According to Project Drawdown, it’ll cost $22.5-28.4 trillion to implement solutions necessary to avoid climatic catastrophe. But from these implementations, the world will actually save an estimated $95.1-145.5 trillion.

And that’s just monetary savings in operational costs. If co-benefits are monetized, the case is even more compelling. For example, seven million people die every year from air pollution. Climate solutions that curb carbon emissions result in cleaner air, becoming a public health solution.

Apart from public health, other climate solutions protect and restore ecosystems as carbon sinks, protecting other ecosystem services by proxy. Others foster resilience to climate impacts such as storms and droughts and bring other environmental benefits such as clean water. Climate solutions also advance social and economic equity.

Climate change and jobs: Renewable energy as a harbinger of the green economy

There will be no shortage of employment in a climate-friendly economy. We’re already starting to see green economic growth outpace fossil fuels even without government subsidies.

Pre-pandemic (2016-2020), renewable energy job creation outpaced the fossil fuel industry nearly threefold. Renewable energy jobs in 2019 hovered around 800,000, as compared to about 500,000 in coal and natural gas, and 300,000 new jobs were added to the energy efficiency sector from 2015 to 2019, representing the largest growth of any sector of the U.S. economy.

In all but one scenario, the U.S. Energy Information Administration predicts the majority of new energy generation will come from renewable energy from 2021-2050. Despite producing 11 percent of U.S. energy, the renewable energy generation sector employed over 543,000 people in 2019 as compared to 214,000 employed in fossil fuels generation.

If current employment trends persist, a 100 percent clean energy grid would employ nearly 5 million Americans in energy generation alone.

As renewable energy becomes more competitive than fossil fuels, millions of new green jobs will inevitably follow.

Biden’s climate plan could feasibly create an estimated 10 million green jobs. But the free market competitiveness of the green economy alone shows that it is more than capable of generating new jobs on its own two feet.

Brands that take climate change seriously outperform the stock market by 134 percent. Global sustainable investment funding has more than doubled since 2014, amounting to $30.7 trillion or a third of managed assets worldwide.

Environmentally and socially responsible brands outperform conventional counterparts, attract and retain more customers than their competitors, and can charge a premium for their products. A 2018 Nielsen study found that earth-friendly products delivered over 50 percent of new market growth though representing just 17 percent of the total market share.

The climate imperative aside, it makes economic sense to let the green transition happen.

“So long as we ensure a just transition for those in sunsetting or transitioning industries, such as coal, it’s clear that there is no economic rationale for stalling on climate solutions—and every reason to forge boldly ahead.” Drawdown Review.

To learn more about the benefits of renewable energy, be sure to check out more of the author’s work on the Solar Power Blog. Additionally, if you are looking to add some sustainability to your life stop by Solar Us Shop to check out the greatest selection on solar panel kits, solar lights, solar pool skimmers, portable AC units, and more!