It is clear from the public debate that the citizenry has no idea of the scale of the task to achieve a net zero emissions economy in 30 years, writes Professor Michael Kelly in a recent report published by the Global Warming Policy Foundation. Opinion polls indicate that few are willing, let alone able, to pay more than very modest sums, he states, and nothing like the £100,000 plus per household identified by his report.
But the costs do not end there. The former Prince Philip Professor of Technology at the University of Cambridge went on to note that if Europe and North America are to pay for the rest of the world’s Net Zero activities, the cost for each U.K. household could rise to £450,000, and £13 trillion for the whole U.K. Unsurprisingly, Professor Kelly feels this is a “fantasy in practical terms”.
These costs are rarely mentioned. The Paris Climate Agreement seeks to mobilise $100 billion a year from developed countries to fund green projects across the globe. Few countries in the developing world specify their demands for hard cash in public, but when they do, the amounts sought are eye watering. The small Caribbean island of Grenada, with a population of 112,000 people, recently informed the United Nations that it would like $1 billion up to 2030.
Grenada is just one of many countries seeking to profit from the largesse on offer at countless international climate meetings. But in Kelly’s view, the project is being attempted without any kind of roadmap. “The project is therefore more likely than not to veer in the direction of the historical Tower of Babel,” he suggests.
Read More: Nearly £500,000 From Every U.K. Household to Pay for Net Zero
