We have just published our sixth set of papers, this time focused on Energy.
As reported by TIME today, the Copenhagen Consensus has examined the costs and benefits of energy access targets. The key message: increasing access to modern energy is an important driver of development and could save millions of lives each year by reducing indoor air pollution (which currently kills 4.3m per annum according to WHO).
Energy Targets
Costs ($B)
Benefits ($B)
Benefit for Every Dollar Spent
Double Research, Development and Demonstration (RD&D) in Energy
Technologies
$16
Phasing out Fossil Fuel Energy Subsidies
<$45
$675
>$15
Provide Access to Modern Cooking Fuels to 30% of the Population
$11
$161
$15
Universal access to modern cooking facilities
$61
$536
$9
Universal energy access
$135
$916
$7
Universal electrification access
$74
$380
$5
Double the Rate of Energy Efficiency Improvement Globally
$213
$576
$3
Double the Share of Renewable Energy in the Global Energy Mix
$514
$415
$0.8
Doubling RD&D will allow future generations to benefit from clean and cheap energy, improving living standards and health while reducing climate change, yielding $16 worth of benefit for every dollar spent. Phasing out fossil fuel energy subsidies is an effective way to reduce COâ‚‚ today, providing more than $15 of benefit per dollar spent, and freeing up more than $544 billion in government resources. Finally providing access to modern cooking fuels to 30% of the current unserved population will help 780 million people and save over a million lives for just $11 billion per year. Each dollar spent will do $15 of good.
An ineffective goal is to double renewables now – this will have high costs, help less, and do little to cut CO₂.
Here, Copenhagen Consensus Center has just released its latest research series on Energy targets for the Post-2015 agenda. Isabel Galiana, Lecturer in the Department of Economics at McGill University and Amy Sopinka, Senior Research Analyst at Institute for Integrated Energy Systems at University of Victoria write the main report, peer-reviewed in Perspective papers by Adele C. Morris, Fellow and Policy Director for the Climate and Energy Economic Project at Brookings Institute, and by Todd Moss, Chief Operating Officer, and Madeleine Gleave at the Center for Global Development. Additionally, NGOs and stakeholders such as Innovation: Africa and the Development Bank of South Africa present Viewpoint papers concerning Galiana and Sopinka’s analysis.
In other news, maybe you want to hear the podcast on our post-2015 project at Freakonomics. It is the podcast for the #1 selling Freakonomics book, a #1-ranked podcast, with more than 5 million monthly downloads. They start right off with: "Here’s $2.5 trillion. You have 15 years to spend it. How do you distribute this money in a way that will achieve the most good for the world?"
Best regards,
Bjorn Lomborg
PhD and Adjunct Professor
President of Copenhagen Consensus Center
PS. The Post-2015 Consensus project brings together more than 50 top economists, NGOs, international agencies and businesses to identify the targets with the greatest benefit-to-cost ratio for the next set of UN development goals. If you have questions about the project, send an email to Research Project Manager Brad Wong by replying to this email.
