In a recent joint study with BNY Mellon Investment Management, Fathom concluded that $100 trillion of investment in non-polluting fixed assets would be needed to reach net zero by 2050[1] — an apparently colossal figure, but one that is perhaps a lot more attainable than the headline might suggest, for two key reasons. First, while the number may sound large, global investment (formerly termed gross fixed capital formation) already equates to around $20 trillion per year, as the chart below indicates, and is likely to continue growing with time. Indeed, the $100 trillion required between now and 2050 represents less

Some continue to make the case that it is impossible to solve climate change without putting a stop to economic growth. The COVID-19 recession (which caused the largest drop in global GDP since at least 1961) reduced the combined emissions of the G7, China and India by 5%; but that drop was temporary, and emissions were higher in 2021 than 2019. Getting to net zero via weaker growth would require a COVID-19-sized recession year after year: a pathway likely to prove politically unpalatable at best. A better route to net zero would be through investment and technological innovation, not by

The speed and ambition shown by the European Union in changing its climate policy will have far-reaching economic, financial and geopolitical consequences, starting with a shift in energy demand from fossil fuels to renewables. These are not long-term developments; they are unfolding right now. The EU’s announcement of its Green Deal in December 2019 was a watershed moment in the effort to mitigate global warming. The EU pledged to reduce its emissions to 40% of their 1990 levels by 2030, which was later revised to 55% in 2020, and a longer-term goal of net zero emissions by 2050. Refresh this