Climate change as business: Crisis, opportunity and everything in between

As the world changes with changing realities, some businesses will suffer. But in any case India has an unplanned advantage: It has to destroy less of the old to make way for the new, writes T N Ninan

Climate change has become the survival challenge of the 21st century. Now that “net zero” goals for carbon emission have gained near-universal acceptance, they will begin to drive transformational economic change through massive waves of investment. Change will sweep across virtually every major industry and activity (from energy to transport, and construction to heavy industry), and boost related businesses like solar panels and batteries, and businesses further upstream like electronic chip-making (which consumes a lot of energy) and special metals. New hydrogen pipeline grids may supplement existing ones for gas and oil, and charging stations could be everywhere. It is