«As the planet warms, glaciers melt, seas rise, weather patterns change, and droughts and floods occur in different places and with different intensities. The planet will probably survive what we are doing to it, but we may not». The said it Nobel Prize winner in economics Robert Engle, in Bresciaduring his speech dedicated to the impact of climate risk on global markets at the 33rd world convention of Italian chambers of commerce abroad.
«Adaptation to climate change It requires many changes in our economy, he added, from increasing air conditioning and building insulation to moving cities to higher ground or building huge walls and dams to protect existing cities. The people who pay the costs are also the beneficiaries.”
«The green transition – said Engle – is clearly a risk for some companies and an opportunity for others. The risk of the transition impacts asset prices today, as shares of fossil energy companies trade at low prices relative to their earnings. If a carbon tax on all emissions were introduced, our economies would undergo enormous changes. Many industries would have to drastically increase prices to pay for their emissions and demand could disappear.” There would be, the economist added, «a rush to purchase solar panels, wind turbines and perhaps nuclear reactors to generate energy more cheaply than fossil fuels. Winners would be flooded with capital by investors and losers would see their share prices go towards zero. Decarbonisation of the global economy is very expensive, but the beneficiaries are not the ones who pay the cost. The beneficiaries are all the inhabitants of the Earth, including generations not yet born.”
