The signatories of a letter published today include David Attenborough, Brian Cox, Paul Polman, Carlo Carraro, Nilesh Jadhav and other respected figures argues. It argues that “a sensible approach to tackling climate change will not only pay for itself but provide economic benefits to the nations of the world.”
The GAP plan for internationally coordinated RD&D (research, development and demonstration) into renewable energy technology was proposed in June by a group of top scientists, economists and energy experts including Nicholas Stern, Gus O’Donnell, Richard Layard, David King, Martin Rees, Adair Turner and John Browne. Its aim is to make renewable energy cheaper than fossil fuels by increasing government spending on research to at least $15 billion a year globally for the next 10 years.
The letter comes at the same time as a video from Sir David Attenborough urges support for the programme. It presents the belief of the signatories that “global warming can be addressed without adding significant economic costs or burdening taxpayers with more debt” and urges countries to support GAP.
The full list of signatories:
Sir David Attenborough
Professor Brian Cox
Paul Polman, CEO, Unilever
Professor Jeffery Sachs, Director, Earth Institute, Columbia University
Arunabha Ghosh, CEO, Council on Energy Environment and Water
Ed Davey, Former UK Energy Secretary
Bill Hare, Founder and CEO, Climate Analytics
Nilesh Y. Jadhav, Program Director, Energy Research Institute @NTU, Singapore
Niall Dunne, Chief Sustainability Officer, BT
Carlo Carraro, Director, International Centre for Climate Governance
Professor Sir Brian Hoskins, Chair, Grantham Institute
Mark Kenber, CEO, The Climate Group
Ben Goldsmith, Founder, Menhaden Capital
Sabina Ratti, Executive Director, FEEM - Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei
Lord Browne, Chairman L1 Energy
Zac Goldsmith MP
Professor Martin Siegert, Co-Director Grantham Institute
Professor Joanna Haigh CBE, Co-Director, Grantham Institute and Vice President of Royal Meteorological Society
Peter Bakker, President, World Business Council for Sustainable Development
Dr Fatima Denton, African Climate Policy Centre
Denys Shortt, CEO, DCS Group
Lord Turner, Former Chairman, Financial Services Authority
Lord O’Donnell, Former Cabinet Secretary
Lord Layard, London School of Economics
Lord Nicholas Stern, Author, Stern Review on Climate Change
Professor John Shepherd CBE FRS
Lord Martin Rees, Astronomer Royal
For additional information:
