$20 Trillion Threat of Climate Change: OilPrice.com

Businesses and investors who deny climate change is underway can anticipate the loss in trillions of market value. Natural disasters are on the rise and cost more, and entire asset classes and sectors can expect repricing. “One glaring example is the real estate market along coastlines, which will see both physical damage and a dramatic repricing as the threat becomes increasingly clear,” explains Nick Cunningham for OilPrice.com. ”That happens through a variety of mechanisms – people move away, zoning ordinances restrict building, insurance companies withdraw support, investors withdraw capital, etc.” The delay in government responses combined with new disasters could bring abrupt regulations that will immediately create new winners and losers. Some analysts project that fossil fuel firms could lose more than $2 trillion value; the broader industrial sector could lose $20 trillion. A delayed response eliminates the luxury of gradual transition. A series of major disasters and sudden rush to escape investments could lead to panic, harming the global financial system. – YaleGlobal