Global Compact International Yearbook 2013
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establishing Korean companies as major exporters of clean
technology. Meanwhile, Scotland is building its economy
on the back of its extraordinary renewable-energy resources
base, producing 35 percent of its electricity from wind and
water resources already, and planning for 100 percent of its
electricity generation to come from renewable sources by 2020.
In the United Kingdom, the Office for Budget Responsibility
has predicted that the overall economy will grow by just 0.6
percent in 2013, whereas the green economy is growing at a
much higher rate of 5 percent a year.
It is not just policymakers and businessmen and women who
have noticed the potential of the low-carbon economy. The
demand for skilled clean-energy workers is increasing, and as
a result, these specialized workers are being rewarded with
higher-than-average salaries. In its 2011 US survey, The Brook-
ings Institute found the median wage in the clean economy to
be 13 percent higher than in the national economy as a whole.
As a result, the younger generation is realizing the employment
potential that the Clean Revolution offers them. In the United
Kingdom, a recent survey of young people (age 19 - 25) found
that 59 percent are interested in working in the green economy.
A global Clean Revolution depends on bold leadership from
businesses, governments, and innovators. Leadership is crucial
because, withinmost systems, approximately 80 percent of the
effects can be attributed to 20 percent of the causes. We believe
this principle holds equally for sources of global emissions
and emission-reduction solutions: 80 percent of emissions are
caused by 20 percent of the global population. But 20 percent
of global leaders can deliver 80 percent of the solution.
The Climate Group acts as a catalyst for creating this global
coalition of low-carbon leaders: At Climate Week NYC 2012,
an eclectic and surprising mix of global leaders and innovators
joined our call for an American Clean Revolution. Former UK
Prime Minster Rt. Hon. Tony Blair said: “Combating climate
change is massively in our best interest if we want higher
energy supply security, lower costs, and a better life. As global
citizens we are going to continue to be agitating for a solution
to this problem which is absolutely critical to the future of
human progress.” Also speaking at Climate Week NYC, Evan
Williams, co-founder of Twitter, acknowledged the crucial
role that innovative technologies will play in the low-carbon
economy: “America’s long history of prosperity was built by
entrepreneurial innovators in science and technology. These
visionaries imagined and then created a new and better way
of doing things, which was the catalyst for a century of pros-
perity. We need powerful new thinking in that same vein in
order to challenge and transcend the limits of our high-carbon
economy with clean energy innovation.”
There are leaders around the world who have envisioned a
Clean Revolution future and are acting decisively to make their
vision a reality. Low-carbon technologies are being scaled-up
in factories and cities to reduce emissions, improve living
standards, and unlock economic potential. This leadership
is evident in the scale-up of electric vehicles (EVs), which are
at the tipping point of becoming mainstream in both com-
mercial and consumer markets. A 2012 market analysis from
the global management consultancy McKinsey & Company
reasoned that EVs would become cost-competitive with con-
ventional vehicles as the price of a lithium-ion battery pack
falls from its current level of $500 - $600 per kilowatt hour
(
kWh) to $200 per kWh. McKinsey & Company believes that
the decline in battery prices could occur as early as 2020 as
a result of manufacturing at scale, lower component prices,
and advances in battery technology.
Early adopters of commercial EVs are investing now in order
to reap the benefits of the technology. In November 2010, GE
committed to purchasing 25,000 electric vehicles to jumpstart
the electric vehicle market in the United States while the
Department of Defense (DOD) announced that it is planning
to invest $20 million to incorporate up to 500 vehicles-to-grid-
capable electric trucks, buses, and related infrastructure into its
non-tactical fleet in 2013. The DOD estimates that the money
saved through such a systemwill cover the upfront investment
in 10 years, while providing valuable insights into the value
of the vehicles’ energy-storage potential. If the project goes as
planned, the next step will be to expand to as many as 1,500
vehicles at 30 installations nationwide.
Increasing numbers of consumers are turning to EVs for as-
sistance with household savings. In 2011, the US gas price in
California reached a record high $4.67 per gallon, catalyzing