The private sector needs a firm political commitment to the low carbon economy at the forthcoming UN climate talks in Doha, a renewables expert has told RTCC.
Speaking at this week’s LCEDN conference, Peter Newell from at Sussex University’s Centre for Global Political Economy said a global climate deal would send a strong message to business that they must reduce their emissions and invest in clean energy.
It would also encourage national governments to set out the right frameworks and implement the regulations needed for this transition to take place.
“In a world where there is so much investment in the energy sector and such a diversity of technologies available why is it 1.4 billion people still live without access to energy?,” he said.
“It comes back to…the basic fact that many poor people can not afford to pay for their energy so what will it take to persuade the private sector to want to provide this access to energy, what sort of tools and strategies will persuade private actors provide sustainable energy for all.”