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obvious effect of making environmental products such as solar panels more expensive. Market prices should be used to deliver the transition in the most cost-effective way. It is also often very tempting for nations to fall back on local content requirements, but these also act as a barrier to accessing the low-carbon technologies at the best prices for society. Again, there are hidden costs. Of course countries must benefit from the low-carbon transition, but there are ways to do so without using market distorting measures such as local content requirements. For example, in solar a huge majority of jobs are created in the downstream industry (86 per cent of solar jobs in Europe are downstream according to a study by EY in 2015). As US President Obama explained in a speech in 2015, downstream jobs are jobs that cannot be exported overseas. Thus the majority of solar jobs deliver for the nations that invest in solar.A NEW GENERATION OF SOLAR INVESTMENTS AND OPPORTUNITIESInvesting in solar is a growing trend, but not just through governments and the public purse. Solar is also drawing investment from a wider base of interested business-minded stakeholders. Over the past few years, investing in solar power has become increasingly attractive for private investors, including pension funds and financial institutions. The secondary market in solar is flourishing in Europe, whereby investment funds are buying up solar parks after seven to eight years of operation as the performance is much better than expected.More businesses are also seeing the opportunities. Big retails group like IKEA are expanding into sales of solar systems, while other large corporations, like Unilever, focus on procurement of solar power to supply their operations with green power. “At IKEA we believe that renewable energy is undoubtedly the power of the future. We are already using solar power across our operations, and it is exciting to be able to help households tap into this wonderful source of clean energy” Joanna Yarrow, Head of Sustainability at IKEA UK and IrelandSolar PV now represents more than half of all the global investment in the renewable energy sector. In 2015, global investment reached US$67 billion for rooftop solar PV, US$92 billion for utility-scale systems, and US$267 million for off-grid applications, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). The global renewable energy job market is also booming. A recent analysis forecasts 24 million jobs worldwide by 2030, up from 8.1 million in 2015 (IRENA). Moreover, doubling the share of renewables in the global energy mix would boost GDP by up to US$1.3 trillion across the world. This is great news for everyone, as solar will be a major energy source in the developing world.The global solar market is forecast to be worth over US$78 billion by 2020, making it the key emerging technology market. SO HOW DO WE GET TO THE LOW-CARBON ECONOMY?Firstly, we need to increase the rate of deployment of new technologies. The commitments in the INDCs require the investment and policy environment that should drive a significant growth in solar. SolarPower Europe believes that we need to double the solar capacity to reach the requirements in just a handful of years.Yet although the world’s climate pledges are “ SOLAR PV NOW REPRESENTS MORE THAN HALF OF ALL THE GLOBAL INVESTMENT IN THE RENEWABLE ENERGY SECTOR ”Photo Credit: REC Group050 SUSTAINABLE ENERGY