Big Business Is Looking for Ways to Make a Buck off Climate Change
It's hard to overstate how radically human civilization will be rocked by the more extreme effects of climate change. We've known for years now that popular commodities like coffee, chocolate, and beer are in peril. But so are massive swaths of the world population and food systems. But while most business-friendly politicians have opposed costly environmental regulations based on, well, based on whatever excuses they come up with at the time, corporate America is well aware of what's at stake.
According to Christopher Flavelle at Bloomberg, some of the biggest companies in the world are bracing themselves for the economic impact of rapid, massive environmental changes. Water shortages are expected to impact production for Coke and general operations for Intel, since it's mostly based in arid regions. In 2017, natural disasters cost AT&T more than $600 million, and longer and more dangerous hurricane seasons will drive those costs up. Disney is worried that oppressively high temperatures will keep people out of its parks and Bank of America is concerned that increased flooding will cause more people to default on their home loans. Pacific Gas & Electric made headlines this month as the first bankruptcy caused by climate change.
If anything should finally kill the "debates" about the existence of climate change and the extent of its ravages, it's this. While public figures waffle and obfuscate, banks and giants in other industries have accepted the reality of climate change. In fact, many of them are looking for ways to profit off of it. Drug company Merck notes that there will likely be "expanded markets for products for tropical and weather related diseases including waterborne illness." An earlier report from Bloomberg noted that a top analyst for JP Morgan pointed out that rising sea levels will present rich investment opportunities in sea wall construction, and that short-term housing near hurricane prone areas are a likely goldmine.
Of course, big business has known the reality about climate change ever since Exxon confirmed it with independent research and then spent decades trying to cover it up. But where most of humanity sees impending disaster and misery, capitalism just sees one more way to turn a buck.
