Gregory Unruh

A thought leader dedicated to sustainability innovation for business and the world.

The Real Stranded Assets of Carbon Lock-in – London Underground Edition

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Our record-breaking summer is already providing ample evidence of how climate change creates stranded assets. 

This week’s London Underground closures are a prime example.  

A “stranded asset” is an accounting term for an economic resource that becomes “non-performing” - and therefore worthless - before the end of its operational life. 

Ongoing political debates over stranded assets have focused on how companies and petrostates will lose out if climate policy makes their investments in fossil-fuel production worthless. While true, this ignores the assets that are already being stranded right now in the absence of climate policy.

On Saturday, the manager of the UK rail network asked Londoners not to use their subway system because it wasn’t designed for such “abnormally” high temperatures. 

Intense heat has devastating effects on the infrastructures we all depend on, including electric grids, airports and railroads. When they fail, it disrupts the lives and well-being of entire metropolises, from London to Dallas. 

The truth is our human world was built for a different climate where temperatures were cooler, sea levels were stable and seasonal weather patterns were more or less reliable. As the climatic world changes, we are finding ourselves stuck with infrastructure unsuited to the new realities.

The UK rail network is just one example of many vital infrastructures already being stranded by carbon lock-in.

In upcoming posts, I’ll provide more examples.

In the meantime, you can learn more about climate asset stranding in my article The Real Stranded Assets of Carbon Lock-in.