It’s clear we must act now to reverse the trend – and renewable energy sources are the key.

In May 2020, Carbon Dioxide levels at NOAA’s Mauna Loa Atmospheric Baseline Observatory, hit the highest seasonal peak ever recorded  in 61 years of records.  This also marked the seventh consecutive year of steep global increases in CO2 concentrations. Today, CO2 levels are in excess of 415 parts per million a key indicator of how quickly fossil fuel pollution is warming our climate.

Only global intervention, through investment in renewables, will give us the opportunity to arrest the proliferation of carbon.

The UK has committed to reducing carbon emissions by 60% by 2030 and 80% by 2050.  In 2019, the government’s advisory committee on Climate Change recommended an even bigger goal: to reach net zero by 2050.

The global movement of divestment from fossil fuels is gathering pace in the UK, with significant support from high-profile individuals, governments and businesses.  It creates a positive environment for sustainable investment to thrive.  Investing in renewable energy infrastructure has clear benefits: it can generate attractive returns for investors, whilst having a positive effect in the ongoing battle against climate change.

Scale of investment

In the decade from 2010 to 2020, $2.6 trillion has already been invested globally into clean energy, with the biggest contributions in solar and wind. Yet to avoid runaway climate change, the International Energy Agency (IEA) has estimated that a global spend of $10.5 trillion will be needed over the next 20 years.

And to achieve the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPPC) target to keep the global temperature increases to below 2°C, it’s estimated around $53 trillion needs to go into green energy supply and efficiency measures.  The IEA forecasts that renewables such as wind, solar and hydro-electric will draw about $322 billion a year through to 2025.

As for the UK’s aspirations, more than 100GW of additional wind and solar capacity, alongside 30GW of short duration energy storage, is needed if the country is to meet those net zero obligations.⃰

Low Carbon is committed to developing and managing renewable energy power production at scale.  We believe that by investing in the development of renewable energy infrastructure, we can tackle both climate change in pursuit of a genuinely low carbon future.  We want to see both sustainable energy production and secure energy supply at the heart of our communities, the energy sector and Government policy.