The Policy Consensus for Faster, Cleaner Economic Growth

The policy brief outlines a 'toolbox' of six consensus policies—integrated frameworks, carbon pricing, smart subsidies, supportive innovation, energy efficiency, and electricity market design—intended to accelerate the clean energy transition. It argues that these policies can leverage private capital and existing technologies to align the world with the 2°C goal by 2030, potentially reducing annual emissions by more than double the required amount, while capturing an economic opportunity estimated to exceed $1 trillion per year worldwide.

• The World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Energy identified six consensus policies to drive an economical energy transition: integrated policy frameworks for electrified systems, carbon pricing via taxes or cap-and-trade, the elimination of inefficient fossil fuel subsidies in favor of targeted 'smart subsidies', increased clean energy R&D and public tenders for innovation, mandates and standards for energy efficiency, and the redesign of electricity markets to accommodate cost-effective generation and storage.
• The economic incentive for the energy transition extends beyond climate mitigation; countries such as China, India, and Mexico are motivated to capture a share of a global economic opportunity estimated to be worth more than $1 trillion annually.
• Implementing these consensus policies could enable the world to meet the 2°C goal through 2030 by reducing annual emissions by more than twice the amount necessary to maintain that pathway.
• Market-driven cost reductions have already occurred, with average prices for solar and wind power falling by 72 percent and 47 percent, respectively, over the previous eight years.

APA

RMI (2018). The Policy Consensus for Faster, Cleaner Economic Growth. https://rmi.org/resources/policy-consensus-faster-cleaner-economic-growth/

Chicago

RMI. The Policy Consensus for Faster, Cleaner Economic Growth. 2018. https://rmi.org/resources/policy-consensus-faster-cleaner-economic-growth/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=RMI |title=The Policy Consensus for Faster, Cleaner Economic Growth |date=7 March 2018 |url=https://rmi.org/resources/policy-consensus-faster-cleaner-economic-growth/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{rmi2018policy, author = {{RMI}}, title = {{The Policy Consensus for Faster, Cleaner Economic Growth}}, institution = {RMI}, year = {2018}, month = mar, url = {https://rmi.org/resources/policy-consensus-faster-cleaner-economic-growth/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }