Brussels, Belgium – New European proposals for this year’s crucial Copenhagen climate conference contain “some rhetoric in the right direction” but need to put forward more concrete commitments and accept a larger role in helping developing nations reduce their emissions and adapt to climate impacts, WWF said today.

In today’s communication towards a comprehensive climate change agreement in Copenhagen, the European Commission proposes how the EU should negotiate a global climate deal at the UN talks in December. EU Heads of Government intend to finalize the EU’s position at the Spring Council in March.

“Europe needs to stop anticipating what the rest of the world might do and concentrate on what Europe should do if it wants to reclaim the reputation of leading in the fight against climate change,” said Kim Carstensen, leader of WWF’s New Global Deal on Climate initiative.

“Europe’s starting points have to be its own stated objective of a world staying below the average 2 °C warming that is the threshold level for unacceptable risks, and the 25-40 per cent cuts in emissions by 2020 that developed countries need to achieve to stay within this margin of safety.”

WWF said Europe needed to go beyond restoring previous commitments to reduce emissions by 30 per cent over 1990 levels by 2020, and commit to achieving these reductions in emissions in Europe - with funds to be provided to developing nations for them to achieve emissions reductions equivalent to a further 15 per cent of Europe’s level of emissions.

WWF described money on the table as “the make or break issue” for developing nations to substantially reduce their emissions as well.

“Existing and proposed emissions trading initiatives need to be supplemented by measures such as emissions performance standards for Europe’s power stations,” said Mr Carstensen. “US States like California were beginning to demonstrate the effectiveness of such measures despite the hostility of the former US government and they have now received a green light from the new administration.

“Europe will increasingly be presented with the choice to follow suit or be left behind.”

“Substantial funding needs to be flowing before 2013 and the financing for mitigation measures needs to be matched with actual emissions reductions to be achieved,” said Mr Carstensen. “WWF also believes that the UN system, where developing nations have some real say, needs to retain a central role in the disbursement of the funds.

“The funding flows should also be sustainable, predictable and additional to existing aid.”

WWF said that the draft Copenhagen Communication at least recognised “offset loopholes” where carbon trading system credits for industrialised country emissions reductions could be generated by illusory reductions in developing countries.

“Identifying loopholes isn’t enough, however,” Mr Carstensen said. “They need to be closed and in this case we suggest a firewall for all required, low cost and win-win emissions reductions in developed nations so that traded reductions are truly new and additional reductions.”

Abu Dhabi, UAE - WWF has told an audience of energy experts and senior government officials from more than 20 countries that the world’s leading governments and businesses must lead the planet towards the benefits of renewable energy and a sustainable future.

At the second World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi last week delegates were told that if everybody in the world consumed resources like the average person in a G8 country then another three planet Earths would be needed to sustain them.

Attending the summit were Professor Lord Nicholas Stern, author of the Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change, and Dr Rajendra Pachauri, Chairman of the Nobel Peace-prize winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The closing speaker was former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

“If we are to change the paradigm then governments with unsustainable ecological footprints must set verifiable targets for reducing their carbon, water and commodity footprints,” Eduardo Gonçalves, International Coordinator for WWF’s One Planet Living initiative, told the delegates.

“They must remove the regulatory barriers to those businesses investing in a sustainable future. They must promote civic awareness of the impending ecological credit crunch.

“Businesses must reform their practices and look at the products they bring to the market. They must lobby governments for a level playing field for sustainable corporate practice, and promote sustainable consumer behaviour.

“And consumers must look again at their own choices and tell governments and business leaders that they demand a new paradigm.”

He went on to outline the fact that globally we are now outspending our natural income – the renewable natural resources the planet produces and replenishes – by 30 per cent and that figure is growing so fast that in another 25 years we are going to need another planet to live on.

WWF’s One Planet Living programme represents a radical shift from wasteful and inefficient consumption and production to an understanding of the natural limits of our ecosystems and the services they provide.

Gonçalves also went on to praise the work of summit hosts United Arab Emirates in the field of sustainability.

At the summit Abu Dhabi alone announced the first firm commitments from an Opec member to produce 7 per cent of its energy from renewables. It has also plendged $15bn to developing its Masdar low carbon city initiative and the establishment of a solar power joint venture.

“The government has signed an agreement with WWF to work with us and our partners to research the country’s national ecological footprint – the flows of energy, consumption of resources, and production of waste,” said Gonçalves, “and to work with us in mapping out a sustainable future for the country and its citizens.

“It is an example that should be followed, particularly by governments in North America and the European Union. The G8 countries may account for only 13 per cent of the world’s population but they represent one third of humanity’s total ecological footprint.”

In his closing remarks former Prime Minister Blair urged world leaders not to allow the current financial crisis to get in the way of the fight against climate change. He called for a new global agreement setting tough interim targets up to 2020 to transform countries into low-carbon economies.

“It is right now, at the instant when our thoughts are centred on the economic challenge, that we must not set to one side the challenge of global warming, but instead resolve to meet it and put the world on the path to a sustainable future,” he said.

“It needs not just a 2050 target but an interim target to get there, for example a target for 2020 that shows seriousness of intent and gives business a clear, unequivocal signal to invest in a low-carbon future.”

Brussels, Belgium – New European proposals for this year’s crucial Copenhagen climate conference contain “some rhetoric in the right direction” but need to put forward more concrete commitments and accept a larger role in helping developing nations reduce their emissions and adapt to climate impacts, WWF said today.

In today’s communication towards a comprehensive climate change agreement in Copenhagen, the European Commission proposes how the EU should negotiate a global climate deal at the UN talks in December. EU Heads of Government intend to finalize the EU’s position at the Spring Council in March.

“Europe needs to stop anticipating what the rest of the world might do and concentrate on what Europe should do if it wants to reclaim the reputation of leading in the fight against climate change,” said Kim Carstensen, leader of WWF’s New Global Deal on Climate initiative.

“Europe’s starting points have to be its own stated objective of a world staying below the average 2 °C warming that is the threshold level for unacceptable risks, and the 25-40 per cent cuts in emissions by 2020 that developed countries need to achieve to stay within this margin of safety.”

WWF said Europe needed to go beyond restoring previous commitments to reduce emissions by 30 per cent over 1990 levels by 2020, and commit to achieving these reductions in emissions in Europe - with funds to be provided to developing nations for them to achieve emissions reductions equivalent to a further 15 per cent of Europe’s level of emissions.

WWF described money on the table as “the make or break issue” for developing nations to substantially reduce their emissions as well.

“Existing and proposed emissions trading initiatives need to be supplemented by measures such as emissions performance standards for Europe’s power stations,” said Mr Carstensen. “US States like California were beginning to demonstrate the effectiveness of such measures despite the hostility of the former US government and they have now received a green light from the new administration.

“Europe will increasingly be presented with the choice to follow suit or be left behind.”

“Substantial funding needs to be flowing before 2013 and the financing for mitigation measures needs to be matched with actual emissions reductions to be achieved,” said Mr Carstensen. “WWF also believes that the UN system, where developing nations have some real say, needs to retain a central role in the disbursement of the funds.

“The funding flows should also be sustainable, predictable and additional to existing aid.”

WWF said that the draft Copenhagen Communication at least recognised “offset loopholes” where carbon trading system credits for industrialised country emissions reductions could be generated by illusory reductions in developing countries.

“Identifying loopholes isn’t enough, however,” Mr Carstensen said. “They need to be closed and in this case we suggest a firewall for all required, low cost and win-win emissions reductions in developed nations so that traded reductions are truly new and additional reductions.”

Abu Dhabi, UAE - WWF has told an audience of energy experts and senior government officials from more than 20 countries that the world’s leading governments and businesses must lead the planet towards the benefits of renewable energy and a sustainable future.

At the second World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi last week delegates were told that if everybody in the world consumed resources like the average person in a G8 country then another three planet Earths would be needed to sustain them.

Attending the summit were Professor Lord Nicholas Stern, author of the Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change, and Dr Rajendra Pachauri, Chairman of the Nobel Peace-prize winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The closing speaker was former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

“If we are to change the paradigm then governments with unsustainable ecological footprints must set verifiable targets for reducing their carbon, water and commodity footprints,” Eduardo Gonçalves, International Coordinator for WWF’s One Planet Living initiative, told the delegates.

“They must remove the regulatory barriers to those businesses investing in a sustainable future. They must promote civic awareness of the impending ecological credit crunch.

“Businesses must reform their practices and look at the products they bring to the market. They must lobby governments for a level playing field for sustainable corporate practice, and promote sustainable consumer behaviour.

“And consumers must look again at their own choices and tell governments and business leaders that they demand a new paradigm.”

He went on to outline the fact that globally we are now outspending our natural income – the renewable natural resources the planet produces and replenishes – by 30 per cent and that figure is growing so fast that in another 25 years we are going to need another planet to live on.

WWF’s One Planet Living programme represents a radical shift from wasteful and inefficient consumption and production to an understanding of the natural limits of our ecosystems and the services they provide.

Gonçalves also went on to praise the work of summit hosts United Arab Emirates in the field of sustainability.

At the summit Abu Dhabi alone announced the first firm commitments from an Opec member to produce 7 per cent of its energy from renewables. It has also plendged $15bn to developing its Masdar low carbon city initiative and the establishment of a solar power joint venture.

“The government has signed an agreement with WWF to work with us and our partners to research the country’s national ecological footprint – the flows of energy, consumption of resources, and production of waste,” said Gonçalves, “and to work with us in mapping out a sustainable future for the country and its citizens.

“It is an example that should be followed, particularly by governments in North America and the European Union. The G8 countries may account for only 13 per cent of the world’s population but they represent one third of humanity’s total ecological footprint.”

In his closing remarks former Prime Minister Blair urged world leaders not to allow the current financial crisis to get in the way of the fight against climate change. He called for a new global agreement setting tough interim targets up to 2020 to transform countries into low-carbon economies.

“It is right now, at the instant when our thoughts are centred on the economic challenge, that we must not set to one side the challenge of global warming, but instead resolve to meet it and put the world on the path to a sustainable future,” he said.

“It needs not just a 2050 target but an interim target to get there, for example a target for 2020 that shows seriousness of intent and gives business a clear, unequivocal signal to invest in a low-carbon future.”

Brussels, Belgium – New European proposals for this year’s crucial Copenhagen climate conference contain “some rhetoric in the right direction” but need to put forward more concrete commitments and accept a larger role in helping developing nations reduce their emissions and adapt to climate impacts, WWF said today.

In today’s communication towards a comprehensive climate change agreement in Copenhagen, the European Commission proposes how the EU should negotiate a global climate deal at the UN talks in December. EU Heads of Government intend to finalize the EU’s position at the Spring Council in March.

“Europe needs to stop anticipating what the rest of the world might do and concentrate on what Europe should do if it wants to reclaim the reputation of leading in the fight against climate change,” said Kim Carstensen, leader of WWF’s New Global Deal on Climate initiative.

“Europe’s starting points have to be its own stated objective of a world staying below the average 2 °C warming that is the threshold level for unacceptable risks, and the 25-40 per cent cuts in emissions by 2020 that developed countries need to achieve to stay within this margin of safety.”

WWF said Europe needed to go beyond restoring previous commitments to reduce emissions by 30 per cent over 1990 levels by 2020, and commit to achieving these reductions in emissions in Europe - with funds to be provided to developing nations for them to achieve emissions reductions equivalent to a further 15 per cent of Europe’s level of emissions.

WWF described money on the table as “the make or break issue” for developing nations to substantially reduce their emissions as well.

“Existing and proposed emissions trading initiatives need to be supplemented by measures such as emissions performance standards for Europe’s power stations,” said Mr Carstensen. “US States like California were beginning to demonstrate the effectiveness of such measures despite the hostility of the former US government and they have now received a green light from the new administration.

“Europe will increasingly be presented with the choice to follow suit or be left behind.”

“Substantial funding needs to be flowing before 2013 and the financing for mitigation measures needs to be matched with actual emissions reductions to be achieved,” said Mr Carstensen. “WWF also believes that the UN system, where developing nations have some real say, needs to retain a central role in the disbursement of the funds.

“The funding flows should also be sustainable, predictable and additional to existing aid.”

WWF said that the draft Copenhagen Communication at least recognised “offset loopholes” where carbon trading system credits for industrialised country emissions reductions could be generated by illusory reductions in developing countries.

“Identifying loopholes isn’t enough, however,” Mr Carstensen said. “They need to be closed and in this case we suggest a firewall for all required, low cost and win-win emissions reductions in developed nations so that traded reductions are truly new and additional reductions.”

Abu Dhabi, UAE - WWF has told an audience of energy experts and senior government officials from more than 20 countries that the world’s leading governments and businesses must lead the planet towards the benefits of renewable energy and a sustainable future.

At the second World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi last week delegates were told that if everybody in the world consumed resources like the average person in a G8 country then another three planet Earths would be needed to sustain them.

Attending the summit were Professor Lord Nicholas Stern, author of the Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change, and Dr Rajendra Pachauri, Chairman of the Nobel Peace-prize winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The closing speaker was former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

“If we are to change the paradigm then governments with unsustainable ecological footprints must set verifiable targets for reducing their carbon, water and commodity footprints,” Eduardo Gonçalves, International Coordinator for WWF’s One Planet Living initiative, told the delegates.

“They must remove the regulatory barriers to those businesses investing in a sustainable future. They must promote civic awareness of the impending ecological credit crunch.

“Businesses must reform their practices and look at the products they bring to the market. They must lobby governments for a level playing field for sustainable corporate practice, and promote sustainable consumer behaviour.

“And consumers must look again at their own choices and tell governments and business leaders that they demand a new paradigm.”

He went on to outline the fact that globally we are now outspending our natural income – the renewable natural resources the planet produces and replenishes – by 30 per cent and that figure is growing so fast that in another 25 years we are going to need another planet to live on.

WWF’s One Planet Living programme represents a radical shift from wasteful and inefficient consumption and production to an understanding of the natural limits of our ecosystems and the services they provide.

Gonçalves also went on to praise the work of summit hosts United Arab Emirates in the field of sustainability.

At the summit Abu Dhabi alone announced the first firm commitments from an Opec member to produce 7 per cent of its energy from renewables. It has also plendged $15bn to developing its Masdar low carbon city initiative and the establishment of a solar power joint venture.

“The government has signed an agreement with WWF to work with us and our partners to research the country’s national ecological footprint – the flows of energy, consumption of resources, and production of waste,” said Gonçalves, “and to work with us in mapping out a sustainable future for the country and its citizens.

“It is an example that should be followed, particularly by governments in North America and the European Union. The G8 countries may account for only 13 per cent of the world’s population but they represent one third of humanity’s total ecological footprint.”

In his closing remarks former Prime Minister Blair urged world leaders not to allow the current financial crisis to get in the way of the fight against climate change. He called for a new global agreement setting tough interim targets up to 2020 to transform countries into low-carbon economies.

“It is right now, at the instant when our thoughts are centred on the economic challenge, that we must not set to one side the challenge of global warming, but instead resolve to meet it and put the world on the path to a sustainable future,” he said.

“It needs not just a 2050 target but an interim target to get there, for example a target for 2020 that shows seriousness of intent and gives business a clear, unequivocal signal to invest in a low-carbon future.”

Brussels, Belgium – New European proposals for this year’s crucial Copenhagen climate conference contain “some rhetoric in the right direction” but need to put forward more concrete commitments and accept a larger role in helping developing nations reduce their emissions and adapt to climate impacts, WWF said today.

In today’s communication towards a comprehensive climate change agreement in Copenhagen, the European Commission proposes how the EU should negotiate a global climate deal at the UN talks in December. EU Heads of Government intend to finalize the EU’s position at the Spring Council in March.

“Europe needs to stop anticipating what the rest of the world might do and concentrate on what Europe should do if it wants to reclaim the reputation of leading in the fight against climate change,” said Kim Carstensen, leader of WWF’s New Global Deal on Climate initiative.

“Europe’s starting points have to be its own stated objective of a world staying below the average 2 °C warming that is the threshold level for unacceptable risks, and the 25-40 per cent cuts in emissions by 2020 that developed countries need to achieve to stay within this margin of safety.”

WWF said Europe needed to go beyond restoring previous commitments to reduce emissions by 30 per cent over 1990 levels by 2020, and commit to achieving these reductions in emissions in Europe - with funds to be provided to developing nations for them to achieve emissions reductions equivalent to a further 15 per cent of Europe’s level of emissions.

WWF described money on the table as “the make or break issue” for developing nations to substantially reduce their emissions as well.

“Existing and proposed emissions trading initiatives need to be supplemented by measures such as emissions performance standards for Europe’s power stations,” said Mr Carstensen. “US States like California were beginning to demonstrate the effectiveness of such measures despite the hostility of the former US government and they have now received a green light from the new administration.

“Europe will increasingly be presented with the choice to follow suit or be left behind.”

“Substantial funding needs to be flowing before 2013 and the financing for mitigation measures needs to be matched with actual emissions reductions to be achieved,” said Mr Carstensen. “WWF also believes that the UN system, where developing nations have some real say, needs to retain a central role in the disbursement of the funds.

“The funding flows should also be sustainable, predictable and additional to existing aid.”

WWF said that the draft Copenhagen Communication at least recognised “offset loopholes” where carbon trading system credits for industrialised country emissions reductions could be generated by illusory reductions in developing countries.

“Identifying loopholes isn’t enough, however,” Mr Carstensen said. “They need to be closed and in this case we suggest a firewall for all required, low cost and win-win emissions reductions in developed nations so that traded reductions are truly new and additional reductions.”

Abu Dhabi, UAE - WWF has told an audience of energy experts and senior government officials from more than 20 countries that the world’s leading governments and businesses must lead the planet towards the benefits of renewable energy and a sustainable future.

At the second World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi last week delegates were told that if everybody in the world consumed resources like the average person in a G8 country then another three planet Earths would be needed to sustain them.

Attending the summit were Professor Lord Nicholas Stern, author of the Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change, and Dr Rajendra Pachauri, Chairman of the Nobel Peace-prize winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The closing speaker was former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

“If we are to change the paradigm then governments with unsustainable ecological footprints must set verifiable targets for reducing their carbon, water and commodity footprints,” Eduardo Gonçalves, International Coordinator for WWF’s One Planet Living initiative, told the delegates.

“They must remove the regulatory barriers to those businesses investing in a sustainable future. They must promote civic awareness of the impending ecological credit crunch.

“Businesses must reform their practices and look at the products they bring to the market. They must lobby governments for a level playing field for sustainable corporate practice, and promote sustainable consumer behaviour.

“And consumers must look again at their own choices and tell governments and business leaders that they demand a new paradigm.”

He went on to outline the fact that globally we are now outspending our natural income – the renewable natural resources the planet produces and replenishes – by 30 per cent and that figure is growing so fast that in another 25 years we are going to need another planet to live on.

WWF’s One Planet Living programme represents a radical shift from wasteful and inefficient consumption and production to an understanding of the natural limits of our ecosystems and the services they provide.

Gonçalves also went on to praise the work of summit hosts United Arab Emirates in the field of sustainability.

At the summit Abu Dhabi alone announced the first firm commitments from an Opec member to produce 7 per cent of its energy from renewables. It has also plendged $15bn to developing its Masdar low carbon city initiative and the establishment of a solar power joint venture.

“The government has signed an agreement with WWF to work with us and our partners to research the country’s national ecological footprint – the flows of energy, consumption of resources, and production of waste,” said Gonçalves, “and to work with us in mapping out a sustainable future for the country and its citizens.

“It is an example that should be followed, particularly by governments in North America and the European Union. The G8 countries may account for only 13 per cent of the world’s population but they represent one third of humanity’s total ecological footprint.”

In his closing remarks former Prime Minister Blair urged world leaders not to allow the current financial crisis to get in the way of the fight against climate change. He called for a new global agreement setting tough interim targets up to 2020 to transform countries into low-carbon economies.

“It is right now, at the instant when our thoughts are centred on the economic challenge, that we must not set to one side the challenge of global warming, but instead resolve to meet it and put the world on the path to a sustainable future,” he said.

“It needs not just a 2050 target but an interim target to get there, for example a target for 2020 that shows seriousness of intent and gives business a clear, unequivocal signal to invest in a low-carbon future.”

Brussels - New figures released today show that moving to a “green” global economy could not only protect the planet from the worst effects of climate change but is surprisingly affordable.

Pathways to a Low Carbon Economy- a new study by McKinsey and Co – shows that global warming can be kept below the critical 2°C rise and that it is well within our means to do so. The study spells out in detail the costs of cutting damaging carbon emissions, but makes it clear that only by acting now will we avoid the worst impacts of climate change. According to WWF, one of the report’s sponsors, world leaders now have all the information they need to shape a global climate deal for both developed and developing countries.

The study – one of the biggest and most detailed of its kind ever compiled – lists more than 200 opportunities, spread across ten sectors and twenty-one geographical regions, which could cut global greenhouse gas emissions by about 40% below 1990 levels by 2030.

By 2030, wind, solar and other sustainable renewable energy could provide almost a third of all global power needs; energy efficiency could reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than a quarter and deforestation in developing countries – one of the biggest drivers of climate change and a major threat to sustainable development – could be almost fully halted. And all at a cost of less than half a percent of global GDP.

“The McKinsey study shows once and for all that taking action on climate change is both urgent and affordable”, said WWF Director James Leape. “The figures show clearly that not only can we move to a low carbon economy, but that the costs are manageable. Adopting these measures will be a major step towards avoiding the worst effects of climate change.”

Speaking at the launch of the report in Brussels, Mr Leape continued, “As governments now invest in rebuilding the global economy, they have a unique opportunity, and indeed the imperative, to build a low-carbon economy that will both create jobs and stabilize the climate. The low-carbon technologies and production models already exist and they make economic as well as environmental sense.”

“When the world’s leaders meet in Copenhagen in December to agree a global deal on climate change, they will have no excuse for inaction. The world will be watching and expecting those leaders to adopt measures which will lead to a low-carbon economy, giving a fighting chance of keeping climate change below the crucial 2°C level.” said Mr Leape.

The McKinsey study has been extensively peer-reviewed by scientists, economists and expert bodies including WWF. It presents its findings in the form of an “abatement cost curve” which graphically illustrates the sectors where the most cost-effective carbon reductions can be made, including saving 14 billion tonnes of CO2 by replacing carbon-based power generation with – amongst other things - existing and proven clean, renewable energy; 14 billion tonnes through more sustainable use of land in the agriculture and forestry sectors; and 11 billion tonnes from energy efficiency. McKinsey identify another 9 billion tonnes of potential emissions reductions which either are more expensive or represent behaviour changes that are difficult to quantify.

In Pathways to a Low Carbon Economy, McKinsey analyses the potential, based on emissions and cost, for abatement across all sectors including nuclear power. WWF believes the costs for nuclear have been underestimated. But more importantly, nuclear power is not a viable option when the risks from proliferation, highly radioactive waste and plutonium leaks are taken into consideration. We believe that further substantial reductions are possible from combined heat & power (CHP,) biomass, better energy efficiency and low-carbon products which will protect the climate without the need for nuclear power.

WWF welcomes the study’s principal findings which show that if all the technology options were put into practice, it would be possible to achieve a global reduction of approximately 40% of greenhouse gas emissions by the year 2030 compared with 1990 levels – which equates to a 70% reduction of “business as usual” levels. That would be enough to put the world on track to keep global average temperature rises below the 2°C level which WWF and others have identified as the maximum allowable before widespread irreversible environmental damage kicks in.

Brussels - New figures released today show that moving to a “green” global economy could not only protect the planet from the worst effects of climate change but is surprisingly affordable.

Pathways to a Low Carbon Economy- a new study by McKinsey and Co – shows that global warming can be kept below the critical 2°C rise and that it is well within our means to do so. The study spells out in detail the costs of cutting damaging carbon emissions, but makes it clear that only by acting now will we avoid the worst impacts of climate change. According to WWF, one of the report’s sponsors, world leaders now have all the information they need to shape a global climate deal for both developed and developing countries.

The study – one of the biggest and most detailed of its kind ever compiled – lists more than 200 opportunities, spread across ten sectors and twenty-one geographical regions, which could cut global greenhouse gas emissions by about 40% below 1990 levels by 2030.

By 2030, wind, solar and other sustainable renewable energy could provide almost a third of all global power needs; energy efficiency could reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than a quarter and deforestation in developing countries – one of the biggest drivers of climate change and a major threat to sustainable development – could be almost fully halted. And all at a cost of less than half a percent of global GDP.

“The McKinsey study shows once and for all that taking action on climate change is both urgent and affordable”, said WWF Director James Leape. “The figures show clearly that not only can we move to a low carbon economy, but that the costs are manageable. Adopting these measures will be a major step towards avoiding the worst effects of climate change.”

Speaking at the launch of the report in Brussels, Mr Leape continued, “As governments now invest in rebuilding the global economy, they have a unique opportunity, and indeed the imperative, to build a low-carbon economy that will both create jobs and stabilize the climate. The low-carbon technologies and production models already exist and they make economic as well as environmental sense.”

“When the world’s leaders meet in Copenhagen in December to agree a global deal on climate change, they will have no excuse for inaction. The world will be watching and expecting those leaders to adopt measures which will lead to a low-carbon economy, giving a fighting chance of keeping climate change below the crucial 2°C level.” said Mr Leape.

The McKinsey study has been extensively peer-reviewed by scientists, economists and expert bodies including WWF. It presents its findings in the form of an “abatement cost curve” which graphically illustrates the sectors where the most cost-effective carbon reductions can be made, including saving 14 billion tonnes of CO2 by replacing carbon-based power generation with – amongst other things - existing and proven clean, renewable energy; 14 billion tonnes through more sustainable use of land in the agriculture and forestry sectors; and 11 billion tonnes from energy efficiency. McKinsey identify another 9 billion tonnes of potential emissions reductions which either are more expensive or represent behaviour changes that are difficult to quantify.

In Pathways to a Low Carbon Economy, McKinsey analyses the potential, based on emissions and cost, for abatement across all sectors including nuclear power. WWF believes the costs for nuclear have been underestimated. But more importantly, nuclear power is not a viable option when the risks from proliferation, highly radioactive waste and plutonium leaks are taken into consideration. We believe that further substantial reductions are possible from combined heat & power (CHP,) biomass, better energy efficiency and low-carbon products which will protect the climate without the need for nuclear power.

WWF welcomes the study’s principal findings which show that if all the technology options were put into practice, it would be possible to achieve a global reduction of approximately 40% of greenhouse gas emissions by the year 2030 compared with 1990 levels – which equates to a 70% reduction of “business as usual” levels. That would be enough to put the world on track to keep global average temperature rises below the 2°C level which WWF and others have identified as the maximum allowable before widespread irreversible environmental damage kicks in.