6 December 2010: At a side event titled “the multiple co-benefits of transformational change: energy, land use, and climate change” held at the Cancun Climate Change Conference, the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) presented the preliminary findings of the Global Energy Assessment.

The Assessment is a multi-year global initiative involving some 500 analysts, reviewers and authors from throughout the world. Its primary objective is to provide scientifically-based, up-to-date analysis that can underpin practical options for decision makers in the public and private sectors to address energy access, security, and sustainability imperatives while tackling climate change.

A core finding of the Global Energy Assessment is that, with the right mix of technologies, policies and management, the next energy transformation can address poverty, development, sustainability, and climate change objectives in a cost-effective and sustainable way. The Assessment estimates the cost of sustainable energy investments required to maintain temperature increase to 2ºC amounts to approximately US$1.5 to 2 trillion per annum to 2050, of which 5 to 40% would be incremental, offset in large part by co-benefits in energy access, security, pollution, human health, and climate objectives. As an example of these benefits, the costs of pollution control are reduced significantly as the stringency of climate policy increases and the utilization of zero-carbon, pollution-free technologies rises. In fact, the most stringent climate scenarios examined by the Global Energy Assessment result in cost reductions of more than 80% in pollution control. [Global Energy Assessment Website] [Side Event Website]