No way out? The double-bind in seeking global prosperity alongside mitigated climate change

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8. I would invite you to read section 5 of the paper.

I understand that environmentalists are in general allergic to Jevons.

The implication is that, at least for global economic systems, changes in energy efficiency and energy productivity are equivalent. Through Eq. 10, both accelerate GWP growth even if they do not in fact lead to a decrease in overall energy consumption, as is commonly assumed (Pacala and Socolow, 2004; Raupach et al., 2007). At global scales, Jevons’ Paradox holds.

These conclusions have direct bearing on global scale emissions of CO2. Just as civilization can be treated as being well-mixed over timescales relevant to economic growth, atmospheric concentrations of CO2 are also well-mixed over timescales relevant to global warming forecasts. Thus, for the purpose of relating the economy to atmospheric CO2 concentrations, what matters is only how fast civilization as a whole is emitting CO2.