Climate: Politics suspended - How the economy is already adapting to climate change

There is currently a book in the SPIEGEL bestseller list that aims to predict the future - »Germany 2050 - How climate change will change our lives«.

Each chapter describes a complex of topics, for example: energy, nature, transport - and: economy.

It is difficult to predict how the industry will develop in this period.

The corona pandemic is the best example of this.

In the book, for example, it is very specific: »By 2050, climate change will cost the German economy around 800 billion euros«.

Is it really possible to predict exactly how the climate will change in the next 30 years or so?

"Yes, you can," says the author of the book, Toralf Staud, "there are now results from climate models 40 years ago and it's amazing: They are almost precise." Staud is a guest in the "Climate Report" this week - Podcast.

And we talk about how the German economy is changing in the face of climate change.

One big problem that companies have to prepare for now are heat waves.

“You can no longer work on construction sites in the summer,” says Staud. “Some materials can no longer be processed in the heat, they form bubbles.

Agriculture is also feeling the effects of climate change, for example through droughts.

And not all office buildings are air-conditioned. "

A surprising thesis in “Germany 2050”: Large corporations are no longer the brakes on climate protection measures - they are even promoting climate protection.

Staud says: “Companies are more far-sighted than politicians.

They are looking at what to expect in the next few decades. «So the companies are trying to counteract this with appropriate investments in good time.

But the companies could not do this on their own.

Politicians must promote climate protection at the same time with the right investments.

"The expansion targets for renewable energies must now be set high," said Staud.

For example, more wind turbines or solar systems are needed, and the framework can only be provided by politicians.

What will Germany look like in 2050?

What are the consequences of the climate crisis on the economy?

And are big companies really the unexpected driving force when it comes to climate protection while politics is idling?

This is what this episode of »Climate Report«, the weekly SPIEGEL podcast on the climate crisis, is about.

The SPIEGEL podcast on the state of the planet appears every Tuesday on SPIEGEL.de and wherever there are podcasts.