The blue line in this chart shows the increase in greenhouse gases if we do nothing. The orange line shows the OECD’s estimates of what would happen if we pursued a range of cost-effective solutions. These include removing subsidies for environmentally harmful energy production and consumption and creating a watertight global market for emissions trading. Even solutions such as these would come at a cost: By 2050, global GDP would be 4% lower than if we took the business-as-usual approach. However, as world GDP is forecast to grow by 250% over that same period, that may well be a price worth paying.
Find out more:
- The Economics of Climate Change Mitigation: Policies and Options for Global Action Beyond 2012 (OECD 2009); executive summary
- OECD work on the economics of combating climate change
- OECD Policy Brief: Cost-Effective Actions to Tackle Climate Change