An Effective Clean Energy Transition Must Anticipate Growing Climate Disruptions

As the clean energy transition gathers momentum, it will face myriad technical, economic, and political challenges. However, one in particular is often underappreciated: the potential disruption to the transition from surging climate extremes. We identify three ways in which extreme events may impede the transition: direct physical impacts to transitional infrastructure, strained resources due to rising recovery costs, and political backlash from disaster-affected populations. If these pitfalls materialize, the transition could stall, leading to continued emissions, additional worsening of climate extremes, and further disruption of the transition.