Make the green choice, global panel urges

PARIS, Sept. 16 (UPI) -- Former Mexican President Felipe Calderon, lead author of a global climate report, said Tuesday the notion that a low-carbon agenda is stifling is a "false dilemma." A report published by the Global Commission on the Economy and the Climate finds as much as $90 trillion will be invested during the next 15 years on low-carbon infrastructure and energy systems.

"The new climate economy report refutes the idea that we must choose between fighting climate change or growing the world's economy," Calderon, chairman of the commission, said in a statement. "That is a false dilemma."

The commission finds restoring 12 percent of degraded lands worldwide could cut emissions from deforestation while at the same time feeding 200 million people. For infrastructure, city planners could save $3 trillion by focusing on a more compact urban landscape that relies on public transportation.

For energy itself, the report said it expects renewable resources to account for more than half of all new power generation during the next 15 years.

The report follows a string of analyses touting the benefits of a low-carbon economy and one week before U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon hosts a global economic forum in New York City.