Time is money

 - Det talte ord gælder -

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Copenhagen – and thank you for the opportunity to speak at this side event.

Recently, I saw a cartoon with Einstein standing in front of a blackboard.

The board is completely covered with a very complicated equation that ends up with a dollar sign.

And the caption says: Einstein discovers that time is actually money!

I got to think of this cartoon when I was preparing for this side event. Because I think that message – that “time is money” – is one of the most important messages of the World Energy Outlook 2009 report that the International Energy Agency presented earlier this year.

Since the Stern report we have known that this famous quote is as true in relation to climate change as anywhere else:
Acting now is significantly cheaper than waiting.

But with World Energy Outlook 2009, The international Energy Agency made it very concrete: Every year of delay will add an extra USD 500 billion to the investment needed between 2010 and 2030 in the energy sector.

In other words, from an economic point of view: We need to get going. That is an extremely important message for the negotiations that are taking place in these very hours.

And I would like to commend Mr. Tanaka and Mr. Birol for the timely publication of World Energy Outlook this year.

By making it available earlier than usual, you made sure that the message could spread ahead of the final negotiations.

Another crucial message for negotiators from the World Energy Outlook is that we can limit the temperature rise below 2 degrees celcius.
 
It is not going to be easy. No, launching a high-speed transition to low-carbon society will take a tremendous feat of strength.

It will require huge investments. We will need to apply existing technologies at an unprecedented pace. And we will need to come up with new technologies.

But as Einstein has actually once said: “In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.

And another point I would like to commend, is the clear recommendation the IEA member states to seize this opportunity and step up efforts within research, development, and demonstration.

In this moment history is in the making in the rooms around us.

The negotiations are very tough. But I remain cautiously optimistic because by now, I think there is a global recognition of the limits of high-carbon economy.

And, with a last quote of mr. Einstein: “Once we accept our limits we can go beyond them.”