New study debunks common misconception about economic growth in coming decades: 'This is a significant breakthrough'

It turns out we can have our cake and eat it, too. 

Contrary to widely held beliefs about economic prosperity and the planet's health, you can have growing economies and a healthy planet at the same time, Earth.com reported. 

A recent study published by researchers from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany examined trends of air pollution and economic growth levels across 1,500 subnational regions, which comprise 85% of harmful carbon pollution globally. 

The study found that countries can continue experiencing economic growth while cutting back on harmful carbon pollution. The study authors describe this process as "decoupling." Decoupling is the unlinking of economic success from what was thought to be inevitable, harmful pollution output. 

"Thirty percent of regions … have fully decoupled, with higher-income and historically carbon-intensive regions exhibiting higher rates of decoupling," the study reads.

This decoupling trend is highly encouraging for achieving global climate goals — curbing levels of air pollution and limiting the increase of the warming of the planet by 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit. However, the study also emphasized the need for the trend to pick up pace. 

"If recent rates of … decoupling continue, less than half of subnational regions would reach…" global climate goals by 2050, the study projected. 

The study highlighted successfully decoupled European Union countries with implemented climate policies. The study suggested that regions may achieve greater success in decoupling and reaching climate goals if governments reinforce climate goal priorities through effective climate policies.

Transitioning to a lower carbon economy is a way of developing responsibly in the modern world while preserving the planet. This shift also creates new industries, jobs, and innovative technology. 

For example, one Chinese scientist proposed an innovative solution to transform the world's stretches of highways into solar power-producing fields.

Carbon-negative cement could revolutionize the future of the construction and building industry. NZero, a tech startup, is developing data-supported innovative technology for estimating building pollution in communities. 

Countries can have economic prosperity and demonstrate climate responsibility.

"This decoupling is a significant breakthrough," the author of the Earth.com article wrote. 

To meet global climate goals by 2025, "All levels of government need to step up, and developed countries in particular should increase their efforts and investment in the energy transition in the countries of the global south," study co-author Max Kotz commented, per Earth.com.

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