We need a new climate-focused Marshall Plan for cleantech in poorer countries
John Rapley is a political economist at the University of Cambridge and managing director of Seaford Macro.to follow Washington and crowd into the energy transition is a step in the right direction, but only a step. Because while building an economy that is suited to the 21st century is one thing, tackling climate change will require even more ambition – little short of a new Marshall Plan.
Some free-marketeers criticize any kind of government program to stimulate an industrial transformation, saying innovation is best left to the private sector. And of late, the market has been sending signals that the energy transition is yesterday’s fashion. Whereas last year, money was crowding into ESG investments, that tide seems now to have gone out.recently reported record-breaking profits.
But as usual, it’s a bit more complicated than that. One of the reasons oil and gas prices are so high is that the industry majors, persuaded the energy transition is real, don’t want to pour money into developing what could become “stranded assets.” The other factor is that. The consequent Western sanctions against Russia withdrew a large supply from the global market, causing price spikes on spot markets.
But if anything, this has hastened the energy transition in Western Europe, as countries raced to end their dependence on Russian fuel. Meanwhile in the car-loving U.S., gasoline consumption has actually been, owing to electric-vehicle adoption and the work-from-home trend. Such trends look irreversible: the Trump presidency’s efforts to reverse the decline of coal failed because it was cheaper for utilities to buy solar energy, so there’s no going back.
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