Governments must introduce policies to discourage consumption of specific food staples including red meat if the planet is to limit global warming to 2C over the next century, according to a report by the London-based Energy Transitions Commission (ETC), which also advocates banning the internal combustion engine and cash transfers to third world countries amounting to hundreds of billions of dollars per year..In all, the ETC says investments in green technology would need to quadruple to more than $3.5 trillion per year if the world is to meet climate change goals adopted under thee Paris Accord. In addition to massive government subsidies for new technologies, governments would need to enact policies to make deforestation illegal which in turn would require restrictions on the consumption of food products like red meat and palm oil, it said..“The scale of the required concessional/grant payments can be reduced by technological development, well-designed policies and changes in consumer behaviour which can for instance… reduce demand for products which drive deforestation, such as palm oil or red meat, and government action to make deforestation illegal,” ETC said in its executive summary..The report said it would cost $130 billion per year to end deforestation by 2030, “but potentially much higher unless the demands which drive deforestation can be reduced — for instance, through a shift to plant based diets or the development of synthetic meat.”.The ETC is also calling for a complete ban on the internal combustion engine by 2035 “at the latest.”.Although the scope of the report covers a broad brush of investments in hydrogen, renewables and carbon capture, the overarching theme is the creation of a global framework of government policies to reward what it sees as positive behaviour and discourage others that contribute to higher investment in fossil fuels and actions that contribute to climate change..It says the financial infrastructure to support such massive investments is already in place and the $3.5 trillion figure nets out to a more modest $3 trillion per year as investments in fossil fuels such as coal and oil are rolled back. Among its three dozen or so commissioners are C-suite execs of major financial houses including Credit Suisse and Bank of America..Other key actions include various forms of financial regulation, targeted fiscal support for the development and initial deployment of new technologies, and net-zero commitments from financial institutions. It also advocates cash transfers of around $300 billion per year to developing countries to retire coal fired power and finance clean tech..“Adequate flows of finance are the key to delivering a net-zero future and limiting the impact of climate change. Private investment, government and philanthropic money are needed to deliver the large-scale funding and international financial flows to ensure we move from targets to action and deliver a low-carbon global economy,” said ETC Chair Adair Turner.
