Introduction
Governments around the world have reached consensus on the need to achieve large cuts in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions over the coming decades. They are working towards an international agreement on actions required to achieve these reductions at the Fifteenth Conference of the Parties (COP15) under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Copenhagen at the end of 2009.
Considering the costs and risks of inaction, taking action now, even in the midst of a global economic crisis, makes good economic sense. Delaying emission cuts would simply postpone the inevitable and undoubtedly require larger cuts at a later date, thus making it more costly than a more gradual approach. In addition, there is an opportunity now to use the economic stimulus packages that governments are putting in place to invest in innovative, clean technologies which could both help stimulate the world's struggling economies and also shift them onto a low-carbon growth path.
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