Green path to growth

Over the past few decades, Colorado has taken significant steps toward carbon neutrality. Since 2010, the state has more than tripled the amount of electricity it generates from renewable sources: renewable energy now represents 30% of the state’s total generated electricity. Colorado also ranks among the top 10 states for grid modernisation, cleantech venture capital investments and per-capita electric vehicle (EV) adoption, with 58,700 battery-powered vehicles on the road.

Colorado has ambitious goals to cut greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and its efforts could position it as a national leader in decarbonisation. Scientists have determined that limiting the Earth’s warming to 1.5° C above pre-industrial levels is necessary to avoid the most dangerous and irreversible effects of climate change. This would require reaching net-zero emissions globally by 2050.

The analysis forming the basis of this article, conducted in 2022, shows that a net-zero pathway in Colorado not only would support important levels of decarbonisation but could also become a pillar of economic growth and sustainable, broad-based job creation in the state – creating 190,000 jobs (60% of them long-term operational roles) and contributing $135 billion in total gross value added (GVA) by 2030….

From ‘Colorado’s Path to Net-Zero Greenhouse-Gas Emissions by 2050’, McKinsey & Co