The Climate Transition Is in Trouble Thanks to Rates and the Right - Bloomberg
The Climate Transition Is in Trouble Thanks to Rates and the Right - Bloomberg
The Climate Transition Is in Trouble Thanks to Rates and the Right
Darren Woods, chairman and chief executive of Exxon Mobil Corp., at the COP28 climate conference in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on Dec. 2. Photographer: Hollie Adams/Bloomberg
The world’s transition to renewable energy remains a divisive issue in many nations despite the existential threat global warming poses to civilization. With right-wing populists and fossil-fuel giants downplaying catastrophe for political and financial gain, advocates have increasingly pinned their hope to alternative channels, including Wall Street, to force action before it’s too late.
Indeed, for a while it seemed like changes in money flows would be a powerful means of shifting the world toward clean energy. But two major dynamics have altered that narrative of late: high interest rates, and those same politicians dedicated to protecting Big Oil at any price—even the highest price.
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Related Knowledge Center: Climate economics
Climate change is now a driver of the world’s economy. The impact is profound:
- Catastrophic weather events — hurricanes, floods, droughts, high temperatures — are more frequent and more extreme. The cost can be measured in both the initial damage caused and the longer-term impact on the economy.
- Vulnerable communities are increasing climate-related investments, hardening infrastructure and taking other protective measures.
- Investment in carbon capture and storage technologies is increasingly rapidly.
- Governments are making investments and crafting regulations to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
On top of all of this is the cost of uncertainty. As the Fourth National Climate Assessment, released in 2018 by the U.S. Global Change Research Program, says, “The assumption that current and future climate conditions will resemble the recent past is no longer valid.”