Alix Walker, Guest Writer
Ideology: Moderate | Writing from: New York University

Last week, Politicizer writer and environmentalist Stephanie Philips wrote about the expected economic progress we can obtain with becoming more environmentally sustainable. Although I agree with this in the most part, the debate about renewable energies remains between developed countries that can afford to make the economic sacrifices of reducing climate change. Developing nations like China and India continue to have economic growth, pushing more people into urban areas, which increases energy consumption. Only after development of countries like China and India are at a point where their economies can withstand the economic burden of reducing carbon outputs will you get a substantial reduction in carbon output.

It is a growing trend and healthy progress for countries like France and other European countries and the United States to adopt environmental policies in an effort to reduce carbon. But for what we cut in our carbon outputs, developing nations are likely to put back in and the environmental impacts will still hurt the third world the most.

For counties that don’t have the luxury of deciding whether to put solar panels on their rooftops they will have to make their decisions based on household income. The environmental conditions of where they live and how they live are more important to a local community than how their live styles can help reduce carbon emissions to sustain the global climate in a more macro sense.

So how are our developed nations going to solve that problem?

The UN is playing a part in making sure green energy will be available as a substitute for fossil fuels in the United Nations Environment Program.

Large hydropower projects, wind, solar and geothermal are among renewable sources covered by a report done by the company, New Energy Finance, based in London.

The long life of power plants means it would be a long time before renewable energy dominated the generation mix. Renewable energy still only accounts for 6.2 percent of total power sector capacity, the U.N. program said, and even after earning more than half of overall investments last year, renewables accounted for just 41 percent of total added capacity.

Investors spent just 5 percent more on clean energy in 2008 compared to three previous years of growth exceeding 50 percent. Investment in the United States fell by 8 percent and in Europe it grew by 2 percent.

European and American investment was down because project finance dried up and because tax credits are mostly ineffective in a downturn.

But the U.N. report from the UNPE highlighted how investment in developing countries in 2008 has surged forward by 27 percent to $36.6 billion, and now accounts for nearly one third of global investments. Also, last year included the growth of wind power in China and a rise in spending on geothermal energy in countries including Australia, Japan and Kenya, according to Achim Steiner, the executive director of the United National Environment Program.

Brazil, Chile, Peru and the Philippines had brought in, or were poised to introduce, policies and laws fostering clean energy, according to UNEP. China led new investment in Asia while Brazil accounted for almost all renewable energy investment in that region.

Overall, the wind sector attracted the most new investment, with a total of $51.8 billion, representing growth of 1 percent compared to 2007. Solar made large gains, recording growth of 49 percent to reach total investment of $33.5 billion. Geothermal was the highest growth sector, with investment up 149 percent to $2.2 billion, but biofuels dropped by 9 percent to $16.9 billion.

Mr. Steiner said so-called “green new deals” offered by countries like China, Japan, Korea, European countries and the United States “contain some serious clean energy provisions” that “will help support the market.”

But I guess the biggest stimulus to green energy will have to be agreed on in the upcoming G20 summit.