Environmental Leader

Global revenues from energy efficiency, renewables and other climate-related sectors could top $2 trillion by 2020, up from $530 billion last year, according to HSBC Global Research.

The $530 billion last year was the result of 75 percent growth over 2007, according to the World Business Council for Sustainable Development.

The 2008 figure has far exceeded the projections of a 2006 Stern Review study that predicted climate-related revenues to be $500 billion by 2050.

The U.S., Japan, France, Germany and Spain account for just over three-quarters of global climate revenues.

The HSBC report shows that the four major areas of climate-related revenues are:

• low-carbon energy production
• energy efficiency
• control of water, waste and pollution
• climate finance

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair said that tackling climate change can increase the global GDP, in a report from the Climate Group.

The report states that ambitious, coordinated efforts to cut emissions can:

• Create as many as 10 million new jobs in 2020;
• Generate additional economic growth worth as much as the green stimulus packages recently adopted by major governments; and
• Enable a more than 15-fold reduction in carbon price (from $65 per ton of CO2 to $4 per ton of CO2).