Family planning = cheap carbon abatement

Via Environmental Economics:

Contraception is almost five times cheaper as a means of preventing climate change than conventional green technologies, according to research by the London School of Economics.

Every £4 spent on family planning over the next four decades would reduce global CO2 emissions by more than a ton, whereas a minimum of £19 would have to be spent on low-carbon technologies to achieve the same result, the research says.

The report, Fewer Emitter, Lower Emissions, Less Cost, concludes that family planning should be seen as one of the primary methods of emissions reduction. The UN estimates that 40 per cent of all pregnancies worldwide are unintended.

Now, at £4/ton of CO2e, contraception wouldn't be the cheapest carbon abatement lever (many energy efficiency opportunities actually save money, for example), but it would certainly be cheaper than the marginal carbon abatement lever.

Looked at through this lens, China's one-child policy could be seen as a massive investment in the environment - a thought that has already occurred to some Chinese officials.