Continued investment in carbon-intensive industries will drastically increase the amount of “stranded assets” as the world moves to net-zero emissions, researchers warn.

From the article: [The study](https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/2752-5295/ad7313) assesses how much capital – the value of physical assets like buildings and, uniquely in this study, the value of workers – could be stranded (losing its value) if the world reaches net zero emissions in 2050.

Stranded assets could include a worker losing their job and future income as their industry declines, or a coal power station losing value as renewables take over.

The study – by Exeter and Lancaster universities – compares two scenarios to investigate how delaying the transition could affect the total capital value at risk accumulated by 2050: one where the world completely stopped investing in carbon-intensive industries in 2020, and another where this is delayed to 2030.

A complete switch-off from fossil fuel investment in 2020 would have left $117 trillion of global capital at risk – while delaying to 2030 raises this to $557 trillion (37% of total global capital today).

While these are the maximum possible figures – and they could be reduced by retraining workers and retrofitting assets – they highlight the vast economic risks from continued investment in declining industries.