E3G

“Space Race” level of investment needed in low carbon technology within the next decade

By Shane Tomlinson, Pelin Zorlu and Claire Langley

An E3G-Chatham House report, Innovation and Technology Transfer: Framework for a Global Climate Deal, released today, is calling for urgent global investment in low carbon and adaptation innovation to be a central component of a new Global Climate Deal.

This increase in global R&D investment, roughly equivalent to that of the space race era, needs to be delivered within the next decade to achieve climate security.

Stabilising global temperature increases below 2°C will require global emissions to peak and reduce in the next 10-15 years. The E3G-Chatham House analysis shows that current approaches to low carbon innovation and deployment are not adequate to meet the climate change challenge.

Lead author, Shane Tomlinson of E3G, explains:

Climate change presents the world with a unique challenge. The Earth’s capacity to absorb and adapt to temperature increases and climatic changes puts a very real time limit on when low carbon and adaptation technologies need to be delivered.

To avoid locking our economies into high carbon growth we need to transform global cooperation to simultaneously develop and deploy new technologies in rich and poor countries within this timeframe. This will require a very rapid shift towards new innovations such as low carbon energy sources and drought resistant crops.”

Taking into account the need to hedge against potential policy and technology failures, and the risk of extreme climate scenarios, the report argues for a portfolio approach to accelerate the development and demonstration of critical technologies. This will require an increase of $15-20 billion per annum over the next 10-15 years in global research, development and demonstration support above current levels.

Tomlinson continues:

We are calling for a ‘space race’ level of ambition and investment in R&D for low carbon and adaptation innovations.

While this is undoubtedly a major global challenge the sums required are not unprecedented. The USA alone invested close to $20billion per annum on research and development at the peak of the Apollo Programme to get mankind to the moon. E3G is calling on industrialised nations to collectively contribute a similar amount annually over the next 10-15 years to accelerate the development and demonstration of technologies critical to achieving climate security.”