Money makes the world go round, says the song. Which is why this year’s Earth Day theme is all about how investing in renewable energies and technologies is the only way for the world, as we know it, to continue going round.

A green economy is our only hope to avoid an irreversible global climate disaster and secure a prosperous, equitable future for all. And it makes more sense financially, too. Investing in renewable energy is more cost-effective in the long run than continuing to foster our current fossil fuel economy; the renewables sector will save governments, companies and people money, create jobs and mitigate the costs of climate change by limiting its impact. 

Plus, the cost of solar and wind energy has decreased dramatically in the past ten years (and it’s expected to continue falling), making it more affordable to produce energy from clean sources than from traditional ones. And it’s also the most cost-effective source of energy for homes, businesses, and public institutions. 

So, why aren’t we investing in the green energy revolution? We are, just not enough. Though 2022 was a great year for the amount of new green policies being enacted around the globe, we are still far from being on track to meet Greenhouse gas neutrality by 2050. 

The UN has said that we need to invest at least $4 trillion a year in renewable energy until 2030 to allow us to reach net-zero emissions by 2050. And though that’s a significant sum, it is still far less than the $5.9 trillion that was spent on subsidizing the fossil fuel industry in 2020 alone. That’s roughly $11 billion a day, says the UN.

Aside from being less expensive, its results will be much more fruitful: The reduction of pollution and climate impact alone could save the world up to $4.2 trillion per year by 2030. An Oxford University study came to a similar conclusion, stating that switching from fossil fuels to renewable energy could save the world as much as $12trillion by 2050. "Our central conclusion is that we should go full speed ahead with the green energy transition because it's going to save us money," prof Doyne Farmer from the Institute for New Economic Thinking told BBC News.

And that’s not counting the industry’s potential for job creation. Clean energy projects could create 9 million green jobs in the next decade, and worldwide employment in renewable energy could increase to more than 38 million by 2030. Although most jobs in the sector are now in Asia, Europe, Brazil and the US, there is great potential for the renewables industry in Africa and the rest of Latin America, where natural resources abound.

In the words of UN Secretary-General António Guterres, “without renewables, there can be no future.”