“The global economy will be 2% bigger by the end of the century if the world can hold global warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius,” explains Bloomberg, reporting on the study authored by dozens of global climate and environmental scientists. The bioeconomy is key to meeting both goals.
Yes, we must invest now to reach net zero later. “Scenarios that limit temperature overshoot”—or, net-zero scenarios—are “associated with higher upfront investments and higher near-term mitigation costs,” says the study published by Nature Climate Change.
“Once net-zero CO2 emissions are reached, however, the mitigation effort in the net-zero budget scenarios with limited overshoot can be relaxed, since no further emissions reductions are necessary. This results in a slow-down, or even decline, of carbon prices while keeping CO2 emissions constant at net zero,” the study continues.
“During this phase (in the latter half of the century) the economy accelerates since lower mitigation expenditures are required and GDP growth is becoming higher in the net-zero budget scenarios with no or limited overshoot (compared to the end-of-century budget scenarios).”
And the payoff will be worth it, with “GDP rebound in the long term to be far larger” than upfront costs. “In other words, the higher near-term GDP losses of limiting overshoot are fully compensated by higher GDP growth in the second half of the century.”
This is why we must invest in the bioeconomy—because as we’ve reported, a low-carbon economy is cheaper than climate change, and biobased products boost jobs, too.
Many low-carbon technologies are already available—from replacing fossil-fuel-based plastics with biodegradable plant-based materials, to agricultural innovations helping plants capture more carbon and reducing methane emissions from livestock, to low-carbon aviation fuels.
Now, we need to deploy them more widely—and policy has a big role to play. We need climate-smart policy to drive investment in these tools, such as the Growing Climate Solutions Act and low-carbon fuel standards, as well as trade policy that allows innovation to thrive.
Regulatory approaches cannot exist in isolation—they must be supported by credible transparency measures. Join BIO on Thursday, December 2 (tomorrow!) for the latest in the BIO IMPACT Webinar Series, which will focus on how we can grow trust in innovation. Get the details and register now.
More Agriculture & Environment News:
Chicago Business Journal: United Airlines flight from O'Hare Wednesday to be powered by sustainable aviation fuel
The flight to Washington, D.C.'s National Airport will be operated using 100% SAF in the right engine from BIO member Virent, Inc.
