Private sector climate change efforts are insufficient

Subject

Private sector and climate.

Significance

The International Energy Agency (IEA) on May 13 published its 2019 World Energy Investment Report. Its findings show stagnant investment in clean energy technologies, well below the levels required to cut carbon emissions to those envisaged by the 2016 Paris Climate Agreement. With most governments’ climate efforts woefully lacking, the report is concerning and raises doubts as to whether private enterprise will make up for states’ failings.

Impacts

• The private sector’s exposure to climate risks in terms of resource availability and disruption to supply chains will increase.
• Private enterprises increasingly will have to invest in climate adaptation as well as mitigation strategies.
• The private sector in developing states will be both the most vulnerable to climate disruption and the least able to invest in adaptation.