Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker ← → Global emissions have soared by two-thirds in the three decades since international climate talks began what’s needed is a new approach that creates incentives for leading countries and industries to spark transformative technological revolutions In 1969, in the middle of the spiraling U.S.-Soviet arms race, international relations expert McGeorge Bundy wrote a prescient article in Foreign Affairs about how to “cap the volcano” of armaments required a laser-like focus on the strategic incentives for both sides to change behavior and stick with their agreements the same kind of laser focus is needed on climate change The problem is a lot more complicated than strategic arms control of course — there are many more relevant countries and the problem of heat-trapping emissions is deeply embedded in the modern industrial economy Cutting emissions to nearly zero isn’t merely an activity like redirecting the purchase of armaments But the point remains: Success requires less moralizing and more strategizing Moralizing about climate has led to bold goals like limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels — a stretch target written into the Paris Agreement on climate change The problem is that such goals apply to everyone collectively and therefore have no strategic bite on individual countries and companies Moralizing has inspired shaming and agitating and striking — all useful in drawing attention to the problem of climate change just as public protests helped focus minds on the need to control nuclear weapons But attention on climate change is already pretty high and rising The real challenge is taking action that delivers major cuts in greenhouse gases and that means rewiring the incentives for key governments and corporations to change behavior and start decarbonizing the global economy No major economy has ever cut emissions of warming gases that quickly; it’s not practical to make such cuts globally on the time frame of industrial and agricultural systems that usually don’t change quickly The planet will blow through the 1.5 degrees C goal and through 2 degrees C as well we may be on track for 3 degrees C or more — levels of warming that scientists say will have ruinous consequences Yet even as the most ambitious global goals are slipping away the need for a realistic blueprint to steadily wean our economies off carbon emissions has never been more urgent strategic thinking led to diplomacy — arms control agreements with precise commitments that the superpowers strategic thinking runs the opposite direction but making global progress requires that progressive countries and companies lead the way by demonstrating practical scalable ways to achieve deep decarbonization Only then can diplomacy and global agreements follow by codifying and directing progress once key countries already know what they are willing and able to do While the Paris Agreement is an encouraging framework, it seems unlikely that today’s diplomacy will be the handmaiden of strategic thinking for climate change which creates a strong incentive for holdouts The gridlock most recently on display at UN climate talks in Madrid — where essentially nothing was agreed — is just the latest evidence that global diplomacy and global agreements will operate too slowly and too cautiously to address the climate crisis but they will largely be followers rather than leaders Making more rapid progress requires changing the facts on the ground — new methods of industrial production and agriculture with radically lower emissions — so that key countries will be willing to do more and powerful groups and companies can mobilize around systemic decarbonization In Madrid, a team of us released a new study that offers this new view for accelerating deep decarbonization Our core argument is that getting serious about decarbonization requires a new approach to industrial policy — one that is organized sector-by-sector and coordinated internationally to create progressively larger markets and stronger incentives for decarbonized industries Decarbonization requires a string of technological revolutions in each of the major emitting sectors These 10 sectors account for about 80 percent of world emissions As subsidies wane, market forces drive the growth of renewables. Read more In electricity, much of the action must focus on expanding the use of solar and wind so that costs keep coming down. Lower costs mean that every dollar invested goes farther; total investment has stayed roughly flat but the installed capacity of wind and solar are soaring It is vital that government policy also look beyond just renewables — for example to flexible gas-fired power plants that capture carbon pollution before it is released into the atmosphere and to advanced nuclear plants with zero emissions Such plants can help keep grids reliable as they shift to lots of renewable power — operating when the sun isn’t shining and the wind isn’t blowing In cars, policies aimed at boosting sales and lowering costs of electric vehicles — such as subsidies that decline as technology improves, as well as investments in charging infrastructure — can play a role so that EVs become a viable business and move beyond niche applications it has become clear that there are two very distinct problems advanced heat pump technology can allow for electrification of heating systems much bigger problem is how to cut emissions from existing buildings which will account for most emissions from this sector Here the actions are a blend of technology (e.g. easier to retrofit efficient heating and air conditioning systems) and regulation since in most countries the big barriers to changing buildings aren’t just cost but also building codes Frank Geels, one of the world’s leading experts on technological revolutions, has broken down the process of massive technological change into three major phases — emergence of a new technological system diffusion into widespread service as the system gains market share and improves performance and then broad reconfiguration of whole markets around the new system New technologies are emerging, which gives cause for optimism over the long haul. But fundamental change tends to happen slowly, which means that between the inertia of today’s existing technological systems, investment commitments to high-emitting infrastructure, and the inertia of the climate system there’s a lot of warming in the pipeline a program to boost and coordinate these kinds of investments only a subset of political jurisdictions — mainly in Europe and parts of the United States and in a few other countries — have demonstrated that they are highly motivated to act The silver lining in this disturbing fact is that these leaders can get a lot done — if they have the right strategy Much of what is needed to improve technologies and markets in the initial phase can happen in small groups of countries where incentives for change are strongest a polluting industry that is the least far along in the decarbonization revolution Unless the world finds a replacement for steel — which so far seems unlikely — then decarbonization of raw steel production must take place Cutting emissions requires finding new sources of carbon-free heat; rather than burning natural gas or coal in steel plants or carbon-capture technologies must be explored It also requires methods for chemically reducing molten iron ore into steel — a process that today uses coal and causes emissions Several alternative methods exist in theory but all of them seem likely to raise costs a lot — perhaps doubling the price of bulk steel from today’s levels Because steel is a globally traded commodity no company will make this shift on its own which means direct subsidies for companies that are testing green steel production methods government policy can link new supplies of green steel with users who are most willing to pay higher initial costs — including governments which can create guaranteed markets through their purchasing policies While the details vary across every sector Leaders need to channel political energy from the growing public concern about climate change into policies aimed at changing the incentives to test and deploy new technologies the political strategies must shift away from small groups of highly motivated leaders and toward broader diffusion This kind of shift in policy strategy is most evident in the electric power sector which is farthest along in the process of decarbonization Success with renewables has focused governments on the next frontier: integration of renewables while keeping grid power reliable and affordable the impact on global emissions is minuscule; when China does The New Climate Math: The numbers keep getting more frightening. Read more Channeling a lot more McGeorge Bundy into the strategy of deep decarbonization is long overdue. And with success in creating new facts on the ground, the political and economic strategies must shift — from the leaders to the rest of the planet The physical engineering of decarbonized industrial and agricultural systems may prove relatively easy once enough companies The missing link isn’t engineering capabilities but the strategic approach to creating the incentives and markets required for sparking new technology and businesses Never miss an article. 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Please upgrade your browser or activate Google Chrome Frame to improve your experience Mexican solar manufacturer Solarever said it wants to invest $1 billion in a new factory in Jalisco and Brazilian PV system provider Sengi Solar said it aims to set up two manufacturing facilities in the states of Paraná and Pernambuco From pv magazine Latam Solarever announced this week it intends to invest $1 billion in the construction of its second solar panel factory in Zacoalco de Torres The new manufacturing facility is expected to produce both cells and modules and to cover a surface of around 1,000 m2 “Investing in this type of project is essential and Jalisco is a state with great potential in the sector and skilled labor which is why it has had impressive growth,” Eversolar CEO Simon Zhao said we want to continue promoting clean energy in this entity for all of Mexico.” Solarever had also unveiled plans to increase its production capacity from 500 MW to 1 GW at its factory in Tecomán “We are also planning to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange and to expand our business in the EV and storage business,” Zhao told pv magazine at the time The company recently signed agreements with the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) and the Autonomous Metropolitan University to build an R&D center for the development of solar Brazilian PV system provider Sengi Solar announced an investment of BRL 440 million ($85 million) for the construction of two solar panel factories in the states of Paraná and Pernambuco The two facilities are to have a combined capacity of 1 GW The investments are expected to generate about 500 direct jobs in the two regions one of them at the headquarters in Cascavel scheduled to start operating in September this year The modules produced at the facilities will have a rated power of between 440 and 670 W and will be manufactured with bifacial and double glass technologies the plan is to fully meet the growth of the domestic solar energy market and offer a Brazilian product to more than 80 photovoltaic equipment distributors operating in the country Sengi Solar is a subsidiary of the Tangipar Group which offers vertical solutions for the entire energy chain from manufacturing and distribution to installation With around 800 employees distributed between headquarters and distribution centers the organization operates in the energy segment with distributed and centralized generation and commercialization as well as supply and distribution of photovoltaic equipment More articles from Lívia Neves Please be mindful of our community standards and website in this browser for the next time I comment Δdocument.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value" By submitting this form you agree to pv magazine using your data for the purposes of publishing your comment Your personal data will only be disclosed or otherwise transmitted to third parties for the purposes of spam filtering or if this is necessary for technical maintenance of the website Any other transfer to third parties will not take place unless this is justified on the basis of applicable data protection regulations or if pv magazine is legally obliged to do so You may revoke this consent at any time with effect for the future in which case your personal data will be deleted immediately your data will be deleted if pv magazine has processed your request or the purpose of data storage is fulfilled Further information on data privacy can be found in our Data Protection Policy Δdocument.getElementById( "ak_js_2" ).setAttribute( "value" This website uses cookies to anonymously count visitor numbers. View our privacy policy. × The cookie settings on this website are set to "allow cookies" to give you the best browsing experience possible If you continue to use this website without changing your cookie settings or you click "Accept" below then you are consenting to this Close COSTA RICA'S LEADING ENGLISH LANGUAGE NEWSPAPER Mexico — At least 15 police officers were killed in an ambush by a gang in western Mexico in only the latest attack against Jalisco state authorities Five more officers were wounded in the assault which took place on Monday on a highway near the village of Soyatan as a convoy carrying the elite state police unit headed to Guadalajara which means that we can’t let our guard down,” said Francisco Alejandro Solorio Arechiga Jalisco’s state security commissioner “Fifteen of our colleagues lost their lives Five officers were also wounded in this regrettable event they’re all in stable condition,” he said The Jalisco state prosecutor’s office had reported the attack late Monday but had not confirmed the fatalities, saying only that several officers had been “hit by bullets.” Officials did not identify the gang but a security source told AFP that they suspect the powerful “Jalisco New Generation Drug Cartel” carried out the assault Authorities say the assault appeared to be in revenge over the arrest of gang suspects in an investigation into a failed assassination attempt against Solorio on March 30 “These attacks are a reaction of organized crime after the attack against me,” Solorio said after a meeting of federal police military and state security officials in Guadalajara Fifteen suspects are under investigation over the attack against Solorio The assassination bid was itself a response to a March 23 operation in the town of Zacoalco de Torres in which three gang suspects were killed In a separate gun battle four days earlier gunmen opened fire on a federal gendarmerie police convoy in the town of Ocotlan on March 19 More than 100,000 people have died or gone missing since Mexico’s drug war began to escalate in 2006 with the deployment of troops to combat drug cartels The Jalisco drug cartel has fought violent turf wars with the Knights Templar gang in the neighboring state of Michoacan for years. The cartel emerged in 2010 after the death of Ignacio Coronel Villarreal, alias “Nacho Coronel,” the top leader in Jalisco for the powerful Sinaloa drug cartel Criminals have attacked other authorities in Jalisco in the past year a federal lawmaker was abducted as he drove to the airport near Guadalajara His charred body was found hours later in a neighboring state a group of 30 gunmen armed with grenades ambushed a military truck near the town of Guachinango