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WHAT IS OUR VISION FOR THE LOW-CARBON ECONOMY?Today countries around the world have been built on energy systems powered by fossil fuels, and to a lesser extent nuclear power. We must now transition to a low-carbon economy, an economy based on low-carbon sustainable power sources that has a minimal output of polluting greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.At the Paris climate conference (COP21), 195 countries for the first time agreed on a universal, legally binding global climate pact. As part of the new international agreement countries have reported what post-2020 climate actions they intend to take, known as Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs). The climate actions in these INDCs will go a long way in determining whether the world will accomplish the goals of the Paris Agreement, which aims at limiting temperature rise to 1.5°C.The Paris Agreement and INDCs oblige us to decarbonise our societies; we cannot afford business as usual. The solutions are obvious, replacing fossil fuels with renewable energies is one of the fastest and most cost-effective ways to cut greenhouse gases. Recent technical and cost developments clearly indicate that solar is the preferred renewable energy choice to combat global warming. Governments must also play their part and despite the cost decreases in solar, it is the national authorities who must also act to ensure that a true and socially just low-carbon economy is built. Regulatory barriers for solar must be dismantled and new strategies must be developed and delivered to employ workers moving from traditional power sources to the new technologies of the low-carbon economy, such as solar, storage, smart homes and electric cars.The transition needs to be socially just, as moving to a low-carbon economy cannot mean that any communities suffer – no-one must be left behind.Therefore, governments must work with industry, business, civil society and the trade unions to deliver new industrial and competitiveness strategies with solar and other leading technologies at their heart. Now is the time to act and deliver a future-oriented and smart plan for ramping up the new low-carbon economy mainstay industries. That is why we in SolarPower Europe are calling on the European Commission to work with the solar industry to create a strategy for developing solar industries in Europe. Such a measure can ensure that countries build low-carbon technologies into their economic fabric, creating jobs and growth. Economic growth remains a priority for national governments and investing in solar makes economic sense now.One other area of great importance to achieving the core of a low-carbon economy is the need to remove trade barriers to the movement of products that are fundamental to driving the low carbon transition. SolarPower Europe fully supports the World Trade Organization’s drive to create an Environmental Goods Agreement (EGA) which will liberalise trade in all products that support low-carbon development. This is needed to ensure that people all over the world can benefit from the best quality low-carbon technologies at the best prices.Governments need to work together to make sure that they do not stand in the way of the development of global value chains that can deliver good quality jobs globally. Trade defence measures should be considered very much as a last resort and often have unintended consequences, as well as the Above: Solar technology can provide clean and secure jobs across the worldSUSTAINABLE ENERGY 049