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LONDON, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- Countries should set targets to increase public investment in low-carbon research and development (R&D) beyond 2020, according to a report published Monday by the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment.
Although countries like the United Kingdom have committed to doubling public funding for low-carbon R&D by 2020, governments should be encouraged to set public R&D targets as far ahead as 2030, according to the report.
The authors of the report argued that public spending on low-carbon R&D needs to increase significantly over the next few decades if the world is to realize the goals of the Paris Agreement to limit global warming to well below two degrees Celsius and to achieve net zero global emissions of greenhouse gases in the second half of this century.
Some of the greatest funding increases are needed in low-carbon transportation, carbon capture and storage (CCS), smart grids and industrial energy efficiency, said the authors.
But they also cautioned that a sudden increase in funding for low-carbon R&D, because the number of researchers is fixed in the short run and expanding research in clean technologies involves training new scientists to avoid crowding out other socially valuable R&D activities.
