‘Green’ Investments Key to Climate Fight

They could be powerful new weapons in the battle against global warming: turbines powered by waves or wind, or technology that scrubs the skies to recapture and recycle carbon.

The struggle to contain and reverse climate change may hinge on whether governments and corporations choose those kinds of environmentally friendly options in the next two decades, U.N. experts said Tuesday.

“Climate change may turn out to be an environmental question with an economic answer,” said Yvo de Boer, the U.N.’s top climate official.
Worldwide, a projected $20 trillion will be spent on energy infrastructure between now and 2030. More than 1,000 experts meeting in Vienna this week are trying to come up with ways to ensure that as much of that cash as possible goes toward projects that will efficiently generate clean energy.

Governments can help by enacting legislation that gives companies tax breaks, subsidies and other incentives to invest in clean technology, de Boer said.

Another option, he said, could be an international tax on air travel