SIEMENS

These are difficult times for the climate. The economic crisis is dominating the political agenda and crowding out discussion of greenhouse gases and energy efficiency. In Germany, newspapers are running headlines like "Climate Protection on Hold" and "Climate Protection at Risk." Some politicians share this view and would like to suspend those climate-protection programs that are already agreed on, at least until the economy rebounds.
Is climate protection a luxury for better times? "No," says Prof. Ottmar Edenhofer, chief economist of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) in an interview with Pictures of the Future (see article "Why Climate Protection Isn't Optional"). "Anyone who claims it is doesn't understand the fundamentals of economics," he says. The global recession demands government intervention, and this can be directed in part toward climate protection. "In the short term, climate protection programs stimulate the economy. In the long term, they promote the spread of new technologies," he says.
That view is shared by Nobuo Tanaka, who heads the International Energy Agency (IEA) in Paris, France. "If governments are spending money on economic stimulus packages, why not promote renewable energies?" he asked at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Such investments support the economy in the short term and are also sustainable, Tanaka pointed out.
At the moment, however, the falling prices of raw materials and emissions rights are reducing the pressure on nations and companies to find sustainable alternatives for their supply of energy. "Low prices are encouraging waste," says environmental expert Prof. Ernst Ulrich von Weizsäcker in an interview with Pictures of the Future (see article "Why Increased Effieciency Will Lead toa More Advanced Civilizazion"). He believes that some countries are now approaching the matter with reduced urgency. "However," he adds, "the Chinese are on their toes, and they've made energy efficiency a national objective."
In the U.S., too, the new Administration is rethinking environmental issues. President Barack Obama wants to become a global leader in the reduction of greenhouse gases. His "New Energy for America" plan intends to put a million hybrid cars on American roads by 2015 and ensure that the U.S. gets one fourth of its electricity from renewable sources by 2025. A good 10 % of the U.S. government's stimulus package — in other words, around $83 billion — will be invested in the expansion and modernization of the country's energy infrastructure. In addition, a national emissions trading system will help cut the U.S.'s greenhouse gas emissions by 80 % by 2050 (for more, see interview with Eileen Claussen).
In terms of private investment, in the first three quarters of 2008 alone, American venture capital firms invested $4.3 billion in clean technology companies. And with investments in the fields of renewable energy and energy efficiency expected to reach $150 billion over the next ten years, at least five million green collar jobs are expected to be created in these and other areas.
All of this makes a great deal of economic sense because these measures will reduce dependence on energy imports and cut associated costs by several billion dollars per year — steps that will pay ever-increasing dividends as the world economy regains momentum and oil prices resume their ascent.