A 2014 report (external link in English, large .pdf file, 218 pages) prepared by teams of energy experts from the world’s 15 largest economies under the auspices of the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) and the Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations (IDDRI), a global initiative for the United Nations, on a pathway to cut carbon emissions by 2050 while maintaining reasonable rates of growth. It will require:

• A fundamental change on the way energy is used.
• A huge investment in energy technologies.
• Enormous compromises and a cooperative attitude among and within governments on how to combat climate change.
• Acknowledging that replacing coal with natural gas in power plants is insufficient and may even be counterproductive as it would lock a country’s energy infrastructure into a high-carbon path.
• Assuming that new economically feasible, commercial-scale technologies will be deployed, including second-generation biofuels by 2020, carbon capture and storage by 2024, and hydrogen fuel cells and power storage technology by 2030.
• Assuming that technologies that appear to be technically and economically feasible at present may in fact turn out to be.

• Calculating of the cost of the global conversion/effort, who will pay for it, how much, and methods of amortization.
• Addressing the water connection. Currently it deals only with the energy aspect of the crisis, not water. Both are inextricably linked to each other and cannot be treated as separate issues.

In contrast, Plan A:

• Pays for itself.

• Does not require the development and deployment of new technologies.
• Eliminates the need for nuclear and fossil fuels to generate electricity.
• Creates a new, truly drought-proof source of pure water anywhere, even in inland areas far from any coastline.