What Climate Change Means for Real Estate Investors (Part 2)

The AFIRE Podcast

Dec 18 2023 • 19 mins

On the tail end of the hottest year on human record, it’s clear that climate change is already here—and not slowing down. In the years ahead, the effects of climate change will pose real hardships for billions of people around the world. The challenge of climate change is clear, especially for real estate, as explained in the first of this special two-part series. Now, in this second and final entry of the latest AFIRE Podcast—inspired by the special climate change section featured in the most recent issue of AFIRE’s award-winning Summit Journal, and sponsored by the global ESG consultancy, AccountAbility—AFIRE CEO Gunnar Branson and Summit Journal Editor-in-Chief Benjamin van Loon propose that climate change can also represent opportunity for forward-thinking investors. Climate migration will require new housing in resilient geographies, creating demand for fast and efficient construction methods. Extreme weather and other disasters will highlight the need for more robust building techniques. And an historically hotter world also could usher in carbon markets that use Web 3.0 to better reflect the actual cost of assets that contribute to global warming. (Watch the video version of this episode on the AFIRE YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_Hxizapwf0&ab_channel=AFIRE) Featuring interviews with: Jacques Gordon, Executive in Residence, MIT Center for Real Estate Bob Geiger, Executive Director, Partner Engineering & Science Parag Khanna, Founder and CEO, Climate Alpha Zhengzhen Tan, Research Scientist, MIT Center for Real Estate