Governments, firms to face ‘onerous’ cost in climate change initiatives: report

Governments and businesses will likely miss their ambitious targets.

The cost of addressing climate change will be “increasingly onerous” for governments and companies across various industries, the Economist Intelligence reported. 

This will include sectors, such as airlines, healthcare, insurance, and food production, according to its Industry Outlook 2024. 

This comes as the year is poised to be the hottest on record, shifting focus on efforts to reduce emissions, and driving investments in renewables and electric vehicles. 

This will also increase demand for products that will minimise the effects of climate change. 

Despite this, EIU projected that governments and companies will mostly fail to reach their ambitious targets, and will likely see an increase in the use of fossil fuels globally. 

“We expect pushback to increase in the EU, where emissions targets are imposing high costs on companies and straining competitiveness. US attitudes will polarise further ahead of November’s elections,” the report read.

“Stricter ESG reporting regulations—which in the EU will cover the whole supply chain—will add to the pressures.” EIU forecasts that this will lead to a stand-off over taxation.