Harvard Business Review: Calculating the Cost of Letting Climate Change Happen

Climate change is already contributing to economic consequences, and policies that prevent flooding, drought, rising temperatures and other risks offer economic opportunity, argues Dante Disparte for Harvard Business Review. He adds that more than $2 trillion in economic output could be at risk over the next decade. “Military leaders in both the [United States and the United Kingdom] have argued that climate change is already accelerating instability in some parts of the world, drawing direct links between climate change and the Arab Spring, Syrian civil war, and Boko Haram insurgency,” he writes. “The destabilizing migrations caused by the climate and related events will only become more pronounced as the effects of global warming become more severe.” Renewable energies are posting strong growth in new jobs. In the United States, the Trump administration is trying to walk back policies crafted to reduce reliance on fossil fuels, but industrial leaders like Elon Musk and Michael Bloomberg continue to assess the risks, investing in renewable energies and adaptation, innovating and enriching themselves to become what Disparte calls the “Climate Robber Barons” of the 21st century. – YaleGlobal