$5 trillion is how much money we would need for the transition by 2030. The more conservative number has come from the World Bank, which is about a trillion dollars per year now. There is a magnitude of a half a trillion dollar gap right now and it's going to increase exponentially as we go. But if you look at the global finance, Greg, the only place this amount of money can come from is actually a massive infusion of private capital into the transition because there's not enough public capital.
According to the United Nations Development Program, 54 countries, accounting for half the world’s population, face such critical debt burdens that they simply cannot finance climate adaptation and mitigation on their own. Most of these same countries are in the most climate-vulnerable regions in the world, setting them up for compounding disasters.
At the same time, every nation on earth is being asked to reduce their dependence on fossil fuels — which enabled the richest countries to develop their economies. So how can those in the developing world make the transition to a clean energy economy while centering economic justice?
This episode is a collaboration with Foreign Policy’s Heat of The Moment podcast.
Guests:
Ani Dasgupta, President and CEO, World Resources Institute
This episode features stories from Amy Booth and Elna Schütz for Heat of The Moment podcast
For show notes and related links, visit our website.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices