International governments will need to marshal a total capital spend of up to $130trn to decarbonise the world by mid-century, according to a new report from the International Renewable Energy Agency (Irena), but such an investment would be repaid in socioeconomic gains with a “massive” boost to global gross domestic product and a near quadrupling of jobs in the new energy sector to 42 million.
The Irena Global Renewables Outlook’s high-end “transforming energy” scenario found that “low-carbon climate-safe foundation for stable, long-term economic development [with] higher growth, cleaner living conditions and significantly improved welfare” could be achieved with an annual expenditure of $4trn, roughly double what is currently being invested yearly on the energy transition.
