Net-zero target costs trillions, report says

International management consultancy McKinsey said attempts to reach net-zero climate emissions by 2050 will require a "fundamental transformation of the global economy", and the sizable bill will have to be front-loaded, meaning items like the cost of fuel are likely to rise before coming back down at a later date.

A report it has published on the challenge concluded that around $9.2 trillion will be needed to be invested every year for decades to come, to rein in global temperature rises and bring an end to the climate emergency. This works out to be an increase of 40 percent on current levels of investment.

" $9.2 trillion is a very big number－big enough for anybody to pay attention to," said Jonathan Woetzel, one of the report's authors. "But it's not an impossible number."

Delays would only make the problem worse, the report said, adding that moves toward low-carbon investments could provide an opportunity for economic growth with long-term benefits. "There will only be a sustainable economy, we won't have any other kind," Woetzel said.

Gernot Wagner, a climate economist from New York University, welcomed McKinsey's honesty in addressing the challenge and coming up with answers, even if they were ones that people might find hard to swallow.

Market forces

"Climate policy means massive investment, and a massive rejigging of market forces from the current high-carbon and low-efficiency path onto a low-carbon and high-efficiency one," Wagner told Reuters.

Among the actions that might need to happen, the report suggested the price of electricity could rise by 25 percent by 2040 before the impact of renewable sources would see it fall back below current levels after 2050. The cost of construction would also be hit significantly, with steel and cement rising by around 30 percent and 45 percent respectively.

The report acknowledged that it would make difficult reading for many people, but said history showed that the human race was capable of making major adaptations and advancing as a consequence, and it was possible again if countries were willing to rise to the challenge.

The key to whether this might happen is a global willingness to work together.

"That is a hopeful message, we believe, for people to realize that there's a need to－and a capacity to－create greater global collaboration," Woetzel said.