Sage-Tips

What or who poses the main barrier to sustainable or low-carbon innovation for businesses?

This process is hampered by many ‘barriers’, relating both to the inherent characteristics of innovation and technological change, and to environmental externalities [13], [17]2 One of the most salient barriers to low-carbon innovation identified by scholars and experts is the financing environment [e.g. 19–25].

What is the problem with carbon?

Carbon dioxide is a problem because it acts as a “greenhouse gas.” Due to its molecular structure, CO2 absorbs and emits infrared radiation, warming the Earth’s surface and the lower levels of the atmosphere.

Why carbon pricing is not effective?

First, carbon pricing frames climate change as a market failure rather than as a fundamental system problem. Second, it places particular weight on efficiency as opposed to effectiveness. Third, it tends to stimulate the optimization of existing systems rather than transformation.

What is low-carbon growth?

Low-carbon economy is the early phase of low-carbon development, during which reducing CO2 emissions in economic development is the main target. To achieve this goal, a country needs to formulate a clear plan to promote low carbonization in its economic development.

How does carbon affect the environment?

Carbon dioxide causes about 20 percent of Earth’s greenhouse effect; water vapor accounts for about 50 percent; and clouds account for 25 percent. Likewise, when carbon dioxide concentrations rise, air temperatures go up, and more water vapor evaporates into the atmosphere—which then amplifies greenhouse heating.

What are the effects of increased carbon dioxide?

It absorbs less heat per molecule than the greenhouse gases methane or nitrous oxide, but it’s more abundant, and it stays in the atmosphere much longer. Increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide are responsible for about two-thirds of the total energy imbalance that is causing Earth’s temperature to rise.

What role should carbon pricing play in governments response to climate change?

Carbon pricing contributes to dynamic efficiency. That is, through time it stimulates research and development, innovation and adoption of new technologies emitting less carbon.

What is low-carbon sustainability?

Low Carbon is committed to making a positive and significant impact on the causes of climate change. Our ultimate aim is to reduce carbon emissions and mitigate the negative effects of climate change. Low Carbon strives to make economic, environmental and social considerations integral to our decision-making processes.

What are low-carbon requirements?

Low and zero carbon technology (LZC) is the term given to technologies that emit low levels of CO2 emissions, or no net CO2 emissions. The incorporation of these technologies is more effective within buildings with a highly energy efficient fabric after heat demand and loss have been reduced to a minimum.

How does carbon dioxide cause climate change?

Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas: a gas that absorbs and radiates heat. But increases in greenhouse gases have tipped the Earth’s energy budget out of balance, trapping additional heat and raising Earth’s average temperature. Carbon dioxide is the most important of Earth’s long-lived greenhouse gases.

How does carbon dioxide affect the ecosystem?

Rising CO2 levels affect a lot of plants directly by stimulating photosynthesis and reducing the loss of water (plant transpiration) by reducing the opening of the small pores in the leaves, known as ‘stomata’.

What drives innovation in low-carbon energy?

One of the main drivers of low-carbon innovation is the price of energy. It is clear from our chart above that innovation efforts in low-carbon technologies go hand-in-hand with the price of oil, which is strongly correlated with the price of coal and gas, the two other major fossil fuels.

Does a high or low carbon price encourage low-carbon technologies?

So a sufficiently high and stable carbon price encourages the development of low-carbon technologies. However, recent analysis by the OECD shows that the price of carbon emissions globally is still extremely low.

Is low-carbon innovation on climate-mitigation technology growing?

Between 2000 and 2013, the number of new climate-mitigation inventions patented globally grew at an annual rate of almost 10\%, more than double the rate of innovation in all technologies. However, low-carbon innovation efforts have started to slow since 2013.

Can the World Bank Group’s portfolio develop low‐carbon development?

The publication presents the results of an evaluation that aimed to seek lessons and recommendations in relation to the low‐carbon development of the World Bank Group’s portfolio in energy, forestry and transport.