Thursday 27 January 2022

‘World needs to spend $9.2 trillion a year on physical assets to hit net zero’

Spending on net zero needs to be increased to help countries reach their climate targets.

A new report by consultancy group McKinsey estimated that the world needs to spend $275 trillion (£204tn) on physical assets for energy and land-use systems between 2021 and 2050 to achieve carbon-neutrality.

That translates to nearly $9.2 trillion (£6.8tn) a year and an increase of $3.5 trillion (£2.6tn) on current spending, the analysis suggests.

It said the extra amount that is needed is equivalent to half of all corporate profits generated by companies globally.

The authors of the report noted that represented spending associated with the deployment of new physical assets and the decarbonisation of existing assets.

They said this budget did not include spending to support reskilling workers or compensation for deserted assets.