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EXPERT COMMENT

The stark disconnect between climate science and financial market sentiment will eventually end. It looks increasingly likely to be a sudden and painful adjustment.

The severe economic and financial consequences of climate change are also clear, particularly given the enormous shortfall to date in spending on adapting to what is to come.

Crop failure will lead to much higher food prices and millions of economic refugees. Prime real estate and agricultural land in coastal areas will be abandoned in the face of repeated flooding.

Carbon-dependent industries will face sudden closure as public opinion and government regulation shifts, while other sectors will suffer potentially devastating supply chain breakdowns. New diseases and disease patterns will impose heavy costs on public budgets.

It can no longer be argued that these are highly uncertain or distant prospects. In many cases they are now inevitable, even if mitigation policies accelerate radically.

Click here to continue reading the full version of this Expert Comment on the Chatham House website.