Nearly half of the $1.2 trillion in investment needed for future global climate change adaptation should go toward air conditioning, a new study from the McKinsey Global Institute argues.
The report used a geospatial analysis of demographic, economic, and climate forecast data to project what kinds of adaptations will be most needed in a world with 2 degrees Celsius warming above pre-industrial levels by 2050. Keeping the global population protected to a reasonable rich-world standard by that time will require $1.2 trillion in annual investment, the study found, compared to only about $190 billion that is invested annually in climate adaptation today. Heat and drought account for three-quarters of those costs. And the most under-appreciated intervention is likely air conditioning, said Mekala Krishnan, the MGI partner who led the study.