The climate costs of pay now/pay later spelled out

By Trey Thoelcke Published Apr 5, 9:56AM EDT

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The climate costs of pay now/pay later spelled out — © piyaset / Getty Images

By David Callaway, Callaway Climate Insights

(David Callaway is founder and Editor-in-Chief of Callaway Climate Insights. He is the former president of the World Editors Forum, Editor-in-Chief of USA Today and MarketWatch, and CEO of TheStreet Inc.)

United Nations climate reports are usually disturbing affairs, with hundreds of pages of scientific analysis and contributions from dozens of experts adding up to a handful of colossal warnings about the disasters to come. But behind the headlines of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s latest update today were some surprisingly upbeat assessments.

Despite the surge in fossil-fuel costs and the environment-ravaging effects of the war in Ukraine, the IPCC says the world possesses the technology and the financial potential to still halve its carbon footprint by the end of this decade. Such a feat could keep us near the 1.5°C. limit of average global temperature rise we need to stay within to avert a huge rise in floods and fire.

The group also said that financing gaps, the amount of money needed to transition the world to renewable energy, are running three to six times lower than they need to be, but that with the right public policy leadership, the funds are there to get the job done, at least on the private side. . . .

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About the Author Trey Thoelcke →

Trey has been an editor and author at 24/7 Wall St. for more than a decade, where he has published thousands of articles analyzing corporate earnings, dividend stocks, short interest, insider buying, private equity, and market trends. His comprehensive coverage spans the full spectrum of financial markets, from blue-chip stalwarts to emerging growth companies.

Beyond 24/7 Wall St., Trey has created and edited financial content for Benzinga and AOL's BloggingStocks, contributing additional hundreds of articles to the investment community. He previously oversaw the 24/7 Climate Insights site, managing editorial operations and content strategy, and currently oversees and creates content for My Investing News.

Trey's editorial expertise extends across multiple publishing environments. He served as production editor at Dearborn Financial Publishing and development editor at Kaplan, where he helped shape financial education materials. Earlier in his career, he worked as a writer-producer at SVE. His freelance editing portfolio includes work for prestigious clients such as Sage Publications, Rand McNally, the Institute for Supply Management, the American Library Association, Eggplant Literary Productions, and Spiegel.

Outside of financial journalism, Trey writes fiction and has been an active member of the writing community for years, overseeing a long-running critique group and moderating workshop sessions at regional conventions. He lives with his family in an old house in the Midwest.