The price tag for a net zero transition: $3.5 trillion a year

The pace of change matters as much as the price. Amid the worsening climate crisis, dozens of countries have now committed to reaching net-zero emissions by 2050. Money is already beginning to flow into lower-emissions infrastructure, drawing concerns about capital spending on energy and land use. However, as Adele Peters points out, the financial costs of mitigating the worst climate damage will be cheaper than the devastating effects of doing nothing in the long run.