Climate change can be halted

In a surprise move that has increased the positive outlook facing the world, the United Nations climate experts have concluded that "Global warming is solvable".

The experts have found that existing and emerging technologies, ranging from renewable energy to nuclear power, will be sufficient to make the reductions in emissions required if the world is to avoid catastrophic rises in global temperatures.

The key is for Governments to take decisive action and put incentives in place, which will speed up the transfer to a low-carbon economy. The team suggests that the main incentive will be the price of carbon - a measure that no-one had heard of 20 years ago.

If the price of carbon was $20 a tonne by 2030, this would cut back greenhouse gases by 17 billion tonnes per year.
If however, the cost was $100 a tonne, the team estimated that the saving could be as much as 31 billion tonnes of greenhouses gases per year - which would be close to the 50% reduction the world needs to achieve to avoid disaster.