Article at a glance:

A cost curve for greenhouse gas reduction

• A study of the relative economics of different approaches to reducing greenhouse gas emissions offers surprising insights for policy makers and business leaders.
• For starters, in a 25-year perspective, power generation and manufacturing industry offer less than half of the potential for reducing emissions.
• Almost a quarter of possible emission reductions would result from measures (such as better insulation in buildings) that carry no net life cycle cost—in effect, they come free of charge.
• The study finds that a substantial share of the overall opportunities, including a large potential to reduce emissions by protecting and replanting forests, lies in developing economies.