McKinsey and Company recently released their report that outlines a path toward a prosperous, green economy by showing how current technology, if fully deployed, could dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions.  According to the report, many of the technologies identified would provide savings to consumers and businesses, as well as create thousands of new, green-collar jobs.

Pathways to a Low Carbon Economy lists more than 200 opportunities, spread across ten sectors and twenty-one geographical regions, that have the potential to cut global greenhouse gas emissions by 35 percent below 1990 levels by 2030, a reduction of 70 percent from the business as usual scenario.

The report is a refined version of a previously-released Greenhouse Gas Emissions Abatement Cost Curve that was published on 2007. It compares the relative costs of using different technologies for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.  Many of the technologies highlighted would generate savings that would offset the cost of implementation.

McKinsey concludes that the total cost of implementing all of the measures contained in the report would be less than one percent of global gross domestic product. The  study has been extensively peer-reviewed by scientists, economists and expert bodies . It presents its findings in the form of an “abatement cost curve” which graphically illustrates the sectors in which the most cost-effective carbon reductions can be made.

You can download the executive summary and the full report on McKinsey’s web site.

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Author: Tracey de Morsella (323 Articles)

Tracey de Morsella started her career working as an editor for US Technology Magazine. She used that experience to launch Delaware Valley Network, a publication for professionals in the Greater Philadelphia area. Years later, she used the contacts and resources she acquired to work in executive search specializing in technical and diversity recruitment. She has conducted recruitment training seminars for Wachovia Bank, the Department of Interior and the US Postal Service. During this time, she also created a diversity portal called The Multicultural Advantage and published the Diversity Recruitment Advertising Toolkit, a directory of recruiting resources for human resources professionals. Her career and recruitment articles have appeared in numerous publications and web portals including Woman Engineer Magazine, Monster.com, About.com Job Search Channel, Workplace Diversity Magazine, Society for Human Resource Management web site, NSBE Engineering Magazine, HR.com, and Human Resource Consultants Association Newsletter. Her work with technology professionals drew her to pursuing training and work in web development, which led to a stint at Merrill Lynch as an Intranet Manager. In March, she decided to combine her technical and career management expertise with her passion for the environment, and with her husband, launched The Green Economy Post, a blog providing green career information and covering the impact of the environment, sustainable building, cleantech and renewable energy on the US economy. Her sustainability articles have appeared on Industrial Maintenance & Plant Operation, Chem.Info,FastCompany and CleanTechies.