U.N. Report Estimates More Funding Needed to Reach 2030 Emissions Goal

Stephanie Adams

November 28^th 2008

With the global economy looking weak it is hard to hear a recent report from the U.N. stating that the funding necessary to lower greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 is likely to exceed past estimates by hundreds of billions of dollars. The U.N. publicized the report a week before the climate change conference taking place in Poznan, Poland.

The report will be presented at the conference and will address the 2030 goal of reducing emissions by 25 percent compared to the level of emissions in 2000. The amount of money they estimated to make is possible is around 200 billion dollars annually. The U.N. Framework Convention Conference relates the cause of the increase to much needed investment in fossil fuel alternative energy sources such as fuels cells, solar panels and carbon storage.

Carbon storage is still in an experimental phase and consists of containing the carbon dioxide released from polluting factories and then storing it underground in chambers. There is also additional funding needed to support developing countries in order to help them prepare for the changes caused by global warming. The world’s largest emitters are China, the US and then in third place India. China and India are both rapidly developing countries and need technology that will allow them to develop using cleaner energy sources so that their growth does not create a growth in environmental issues.

Whether this report will be taken in with open arms at the convention in Poznan, depends on the opinions of certain countries and how willing they are to make such investments during the current economic problems.

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