Under the pressure of a double crisis, financial and climate, some developed countries are striving to add more green color to their economies, as a way out of recession and to create more jobs.

Investment in green economy is a good way to combine economic stimulus with the urgent task of addressing climate change, said World Bank Chief Economist and Senior Vice President Justin Yifu Lin in an recent interview with Xinhua. "It will also yield great benefit in the long run," he added.

However, doubts and worries remain despite the promising future government officials described in advocating the green economy.

Going green

Britian has taken the lead in promoting a green economy and has become the first country in the world to set itself legally binding "carbon budgets."

The British government in July issued the Low Carbon Transition Plan that plots out how the country will meet its emissions targets by cutting 34 percent by 2020, from 1990 levels.

Under the plan, by 2020, more than 1.2 million people will be in green jobs, while 40 percent of electricity will be generated from low carbon sources -- from renewables, nuclear and clean coal.

In the United States, the treasury and energy departments said on August 13 that they will provide US$2.3 billion in tax credits to manufacturers of clean energy equipment as part of President Barack Obama's 787-billion-dollar stimulus package.

In June, the House of Representatives passed the American Clean Energy and Security Act, a bill that aims to reduce the US greenhouse gas emissions by 17 percent from 2005 levels by 2020, create millions of new jobs and reduce the country's dependence on foreign oil.

Obama hailed the passage of the bill in a weekly radio address, saying clean energy and the jobs it creates would build a new foundation for economic growth so that "we do not return to the endless cycle of bubble to bust that led us to this recession."

Other developed countries that are grappling with economic recession are also taking similar green measures.

Last year, France's environment ministry announced a package of measures to foster development of renewable energy sources, which includes 50 items covering the fields of biology energy, wind power, terrestrial heat, solar power and hydroelectric power.

According to the measures, renewable energy will account for at least 23 percent of the whole energy consumption in France by 2020, which means about 20 million tons of oil would be saved every year.

In Germany, the government is investing in clean technology and promoting the use of renewable energy in efforts to overcome the impact of the crisis and maintain sustainable economic growth.

Doubts and worries

Obama said "The nation that leads in the creation of a clean energy economy will be the nation that leads the 21st century global economy."

But the road to go green is not smooth, for various reasons.

The development of wind energy in Britain, for example, is not without snags. Local residents are worried that wind turbines will damage natural scenery and cause noise, while some other opponents say wind energy is unstable and expensive.

In the United States, oil tycoon Thomas Boone Pickens decided last month to postpone his plan to build the world's largest wind farm, which analysts see as a sign of the difficulties facing the development of wind energy.

Pickens, an advocate of alternative energy, cited several factors that prompted him to shelve the 10-billion-dollar plan -- lack of transmission lines, a drop in the price of natural gas, and the impact of the economic recession.

Besides, the climate and energy bill the House of Representatives approved would force companies to pay for pollutants that are blamed for climate change, a move that will threaten their vested interests and draw opposition from the energy sector.

In fact, the bill was narrowly passed by a 219-212 vote, as many lawmakers feared it would harm local industries and raise energy costs.

In addition, the bill contains tough provisions to levy the so-called carbon tariff on imports from countries that have no statutory restrictions on greenhouse gas emissions, in a bid to ensure that US companies would not lose their competitive edge.

This has drawn criticism from many countries, who said that it was a new kind of trade protectionism under the guise of fighting climate change.

(Xinhua News Agency August 24, 2009)