Currently in the midst of all the climate change hoo-ha, people typically don’t associate economic crisis and climate change, assuming of course that people have acknowledged human-induced climate change is a thing to begin with. Perhaps the only climate change related economic impact people know about is the potential carbon price they have to pay on their electricity and associated goods and services. It’s pretty clear what the majority thought of paying this carbon “tax”, as was observed in Australia for example. The pro-carbon price party (Labor) was voted out and the anti-carbon price party (Liberal Nationals) was voted into government. Not to say there wasn’t other factors at play but the carbon pricing issue has been the bane of many Australian political leaders since the late 2000’s.

The link between losing our jobs or livelihoods and climate change generally doesn’t register with the general public. The “occasional” devastating hurricane or the worse-than-usual bushfire still has no real consequences for the vast majority of people, at least not yet. The reality is that climate change is a clear and present threat to the world economy so much so that it may bring systemic economic collapse. The multiple cascading and interdependent effects of a hotter Earth including the devastating kinetic effects of extreme weather, gradual inundation of coastal cities, food and fresh water scarcity and threats to public health, all work together to erode and destroy our economic system and inherent social order. For those of us who live in developed countries, we may not care about mass wildlife extinction or some small, forgettable island nation being smashed by a category 5 hurricane. But we will eventually be forced to care about the dire economic consequences and ultimately, our own survival.

The pending economic crisis is of course a projection and is perhaps less tangible than the physical science aspects of climate change. Who would have thought over emitting greenhouse gases can potentially cause mass job losses? Nevertheless, banks are starting to acknowledge the unprecedented challenges posed by climate change. If even the banks are starting to get it, so should we all.