Financiers have woken up to the idea that global warming may wipe trillions off the global economy, but can they do anything about it, asks Fred Pearce

Not ready for a low-carbon world Guy Corbishley/Alamy Stock Photo

It’s a kick to the bulls for the investment markets. If we bust the limit of 2 °C of warming set at the Paris climate summit at the end of last year, it could wipe anything from $2.5 trillion to $24 trillion from the value of the world’s financial assets, environmental economists warned on Monday. That’s up to a fifth of the current global economy.

Some of that financial meltdown would come as agriculture succumbs to drought, industrial zones are ripped apart by hurricanes and cities are …