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The news that UK Prime Minster Sunak is set to further dilute the government’s climate policies demonstrates that when the political going gets tough, climate policies are the first to fall by the wayside. From a macro perspective, the biggest risk is …
20th September 2023
Supplies of freshwater are likely to become scarcer over time as the world heats up and precipitation patterns change. While investment into infrastructure and boosting desalination capacity can help to increase supplies, the costs borne by consumers and …
18th September 2023
The UK government’s failure to award any new offshore wind-power contracts in its latest procurement round ultimately stems from bean-counting stinginess and is nothing that a lot of extra government investment won’t fix. But with the days of ever-cheaper …
8th September 2023
The UK government’s decision to block Marks and Spencer’s (M&S’) re-development of its flagship store highlights the challenges in the transition to net zero. In particular, while authorities are using regulation to force owners into greener choices, if …
7th September 2023
The relaxing of planning rules governing new onshore wind installations in England marks a shift away from the de facto ban that was put in place in 2015. But raising the bar for objections to land-based turbines won’t put an end to green-related …
6th September 2023
While the Women’s World Cup ultimately ended in disappointment for English supporters, it’s somewhat fitting that climate policy is increasingly being made into a political football. The failure in the UK and elsewhere to address climate policy’s inherent …
31st August 2023
The government’s ambition of developing a globally-competitive manufacturing sector, combined with relatively slow progress on shifting away from using coal for electricity production, means India will become the world’s biggest polluter in the …
23rd August 2023
Somewhat paradoxically, climate-driven shifts in tourist patterns could help to smooth the seasonal peaks seen in summer destinations, and some countries – particularly in northern Europe – will become more attractive places to visit. However, there is a …
22nd August 2023
Given the dominance of coal in China’s energy mix, a medium-sized electric vehicle (EV) produced there currently starts life with a “carbon debt” almost twice that of an equivalent internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle. However, the greater efficiency …
15th August 2023
Surveys show that most people in the UK want action to tackle climate change but many do not have the appetite to pay for it. And given that the fiscal firepower and political will to grease the wheels of the green transition are both in short supply, …
14th August 2023
The message from electric vehicle sales data is now clear: the EV revolution is alive and kicking and poses important implications for oil demand. We are slightly more optimistic on the pace of EV adoption than other forecasters and suspect the drag on …
31st July 2023
Climate change is expected to intensify the scale and frequency of flooding over the coming years. Housing markets in the US have yet to fully price in these risks, leaving many properties significantly overvalued. But as these risks begin to manifest, …
“The Boy” is back Much ink has been spilled – not least by ourselves – on the potential impacts of the return of El Niño conditions on commodities and economies. It’s fair to say that some of the analysis we have stumbled across has been towards the …
27th July 2023
China’s recent announcement of export restrictions on two metals used to make semiconductors serves as a reminder that China dominates production of metals needed for the green transition. We have warned in the past that the green transition is unlikely …
20th July 2023
Achieving the shipping industry’s new decarbonisation ambitions would inevitably make the cost of sea freight more expensive. However, it would probably have a negligible impact on consumer prices. As expected, the high-level meeting at the International …
11th July 2023
How will the combination of El Niño and human-driven global warming affect commodities and economic performance over the short and long term? … El Niño – Macro, policy and market …
7th July 2023
We recently held a Drop-in titled “Industry’s decarbonisation challenge – From aviation to property”, which you can view on-demand here . This Update addresses some of the questions we received during the event, including those that we did not have time …
3rd July 2023
Maybe the record-breaking temperatures in the UK in June drew comparisons with the weather typically seen in spaghetti westerns. Or perhaps we’re just bigger Clint Eastwood fans than we care to admit. Whatever the reason, we couldn’t help thinking that …
30th June 2023
If you aren't already receiving our Climate Economics coverage and would like us to arrange access, click here . Getting serious about decarbonisation would be more costly for governments than many fiscal scenarios would have you believe. Of course, the …
26th June 2023
Florida and other parts of the Sunbelt (notably major cities in Texas) will likely face the most severe physical climate risk over the next 30 years. While this is unlikely to come as a major surprise, we don’t believe that this risk is being consistently …
14th June 2023
Preventing large-scale leaks of methane from Turkmenistan’s creaking infrastructure would be a welcome sign of emissions-cutting efforts broadening out from carbon dioxide to include other harmful greenhouse gases too. But while Turkmenistan has become …
8th June 2023
Ajay Banga appears to be well qualified to lead the World Bank Group and is as well-placed as anyone to “mobilise” Wall Street cash to fund climate-related projects. However, progress on reducing global emissions will require more than a stream of climate …
31st May 2023
India’s economy is one of the most vulnerable in the world to the physical effects of climate change. Climate change alone won’t stop relatively rapid rates of growth over the coming decades. But it is likely to mean that income convergence with other, …
The aviation sector is pinning its hopes on sustainable aviation fuel to help cut its carbon footprint over the coming decades. But any ramp-up in biofuel usage would pit aviation against the needs of other sectors and industry officials are becoming more …
25th May 2023
Many academic studies underplay the extent to which higher temperatures could affect economic activity over the long run. Nonetheless, even in a scenario in which the global average temperature rose by more than 3 ° C from its pre-industrial average, …
16th May 2023
Activity/emissions links to weaken over time The release of our latest China Activity Proxy (CAP) this week showed that the Chinese economy bounced back rapidly in Q1 following the ending of its zero-Covid strategy. Recall that the CAP is our attempt to …
28th April 2023
The global energy market is in the early days of a radical redesign due to the need to cut greenhouse gas emissions. In this Focus , we introduce our long-term energy market forecasts, which are characterised by continued growth in energy consumption and …
27th April 2023
In this new quarterly publication, the Capital Economics’ Climate and Commodities teams will track and analyse developments in the transition to a greener global economy. The sharp increases in the lifetime costs of wind and solar projects since 2021 …
26th April 2023
The physical risks facing commercial property are substantial with extreme weather events like floods and wildfires set to increase in both the US and Europe over the coming decades. Property markets have yet to fully price these in, especially in areas …
21st April 2023
The shipping industry is notable as being both a vital artery of world trade and one of the trickiest sectors to de-carbonise. This Update looks at five key questions on the near-term plans to reduce emissions from the sector and the potential …
13th April 2023
The “ Powering up Britain ” plan presented by the UK government this week highlights the benefits and limitations of official involvement in reducing emissions. On the one hand, the plans to reduce the price of electricity relative to gas will help to …
31st March 2023
Synthesising the Synthesis Report The main climate-related event of the month – other than the publication of our inaugural Climate Economics Outlook , of course – was the release of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) sixth Synthesis …
The EU’s Net-Zero Industry Act announced last week aims to keep the manufacture of clean technologies within the EU and shows that global fracturing will take place within blocs as well as between blocs over the coming years. But the bigger picture is …
24th March 2023
With the clocks set to go forward in the UK and EU this weekend, it’s worth noting that the practice of “preserving” daylight has its roots in saving energy: the policy was first implemented by Germany in WW1 to free up coal stocks and was re-adopted in …
In ordinary times, today’s launch of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) sixth synthesis report in Interlaken would have been the most high-profile news event to emerge from Switzerland. As it happens, amid the drama of the Credit …
20th March 2023
While the Credit Suisse rescue might draw a line under that particular institution’s problems, it is clear that confidence in the financial sector overall is still extremely fragile. So regardless of whether more financial institutions run into trouble, …
This dashboard provides an overview of our bottom-up long-term forecasts for greenhouse gas emissions for the world's largest polluters, as detailed in our Climate Economics Outlook . These forecasts will serve as a baseline for future analysis of the …
This inaugural Climate Economics Outlook establishes our bottom-up long-term forecasts for greenhouse gas emissions for the world’s largest polluters. These forecasts will serve as a baseline for future analysis of the impacts of alternative climate …
6th March 2023
The common-sense place to start The release of the 2023 version of the Global Methane Tracker by the International Energy Agency (IEA) last week once again highlighted how carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions are far from the only challenge on the climate …
28th February 2023
Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) are the main benchmark for environmental standards in UK housing. There is evidence that they are improving efficiency in new-builds and new regulations will enforce change on rental properties, but this progress …
27th February 2023
The war in Ukraine. Ageing populations. Rising temperatures. Investors are having to grapple with a formidable range of uncertainties around the long-term outlook for the global economy and markets. Their challenge is compounded by the fracturing of the …
22nd February 2023
A combination of higher interest rates and rising raw material prices have interrupted the long-term declines in the costs of renewables and battery power, and could push costs up further in the near term. However, such pressures will dissipate as policy …
16th February 2023
There is a touch of the Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde about China’s climate credentials, with its well-documented record of burgeoning emissions and reliance on coal standing in stark contrast to its increasing influence over the supply of green technology. The …
31st January 2023
Central bankers let their hair down Climate change was front and centre of the discussions earlier this month when a host of heavy-hitters from the world of central banking descended on Stockholm for an International Symposium on Central Bank …
26th January 2023
The recent commencement of stricter office EPC legislation in the Netherlands has raised concerns that Dutch office valuations may be on the edge of a regulatory precipice, given the large proportion of non-compliant stock. However, we think the …
13th January 2023
A large part of the real estate sector’s carbon footprint is related to electricity production and so will shrink over time as the use of renewables continues to expand. The biggest challenges to reducing property sector emissions will be in emerging …
9th January 2023
Following on from our recent background note on the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) and the signing off on the tool by EU Ministers over the weekend, this Update examines which countries may be most affected by the eventual introduction of …
20th December 2022
While today’s agreement on the EU’s “Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism” leaves vital questions unanswered, it is a step towards the valid goal of making users pay for the emissions that they consume – wherever such emissions are produced. This Update …
13th December 2022
International efforts to halt and reverse nature loss dovetail with aims to reduce net greenhouse gas emissions by protecting and expanding so-called carbon sinks, such as forests. But this is only one part of the de-carbonisation puzzle and does not …
30th November 2022
Global biofuel production unlikely to ramp up anytime soon … … as governments instead prioritise EVs as the future of green transport. As such, elevated food prices shouldn’t be exacerbated by biofuels competing for crops. Global food prices are at …
28th November 2022
