Source: NC PUBLIC NEWS SERVICE, 7/18/19

Storms, hurricanes, and flooding have cost cities around the country billions of dollars, and today in Charlotte, business leaders – and GOP Congressman Patrick McHenry of Cherryville – are meeting to talk about how climate change is impacting the finance and business community. 

Experts say real estate, infrastructure, and electric utilities sectors are especially vulnerable to rising sea levels, record-high temperatures and increasing extreme weather events. Jerry Taylor, director of Washington D.C.-based think tank the Niskanen Center, says CEOs and shareholders realize what's at stake.

"About half of the venture capital in the world today is now directed by investors who are demanding climate action,” says Taylor. “A great majority of the corporate community is likewise acting to head off the costs associated with climate change."

Taylor points out that many companies are investing in clean energy and working to implement climate adaptation strategies. Others are raising awareness about climate-change risks with employees and clients, and calling for a worldwide policy framework for climate change.

Taylor says the business sector can't tackle climate change alone, and points out that bipartisan support for climate solutions and policy actions is needed.

"This is a global problem, which requires a global response,” says Taylor. “And the United States has been the blocking agent in these initiatives over the last several years – actually for the last several decades, but most markedly since the emergence of the Trump administration."

Around fifty North Carolina business leaders are participating in today's discussion. The event was organized by The Nature Conservancy in North Carolina.

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