評論
打印
Leaders
社論
Bunged up
遇到瓶頸
A great green investment boom is under way. Bottlenecks are an underappreciated problem
一場巨大的綠色投資熱潮正在興起，但瓶頸問題卻未受到重視。
AS THE WORLD economy wakes back up, shortages and price spikes are affecting everything from the supply of Taiwanese chips to the cost of a French breakfast. As we explain this week, one kind of bottleneck deserves special attention: the supply-side problems, such as scarce metals and land constraints, that threaten to slow the green-energy boom. Far from being transitory, these bottlenecks risk becoming a recurring feature of the world economy for years to come because the shift to a cleaner energy system is still only in its infancy. Governments must respond to these market signals, facilitating a huge private-sector investment boom over the next decade that increases capacity. If they don’t, they stand little chance of keeping their promises to reach “net-zero” emissions.
伴隨世界經(jīng)濟復蘇，短缺和價格飆升正在影響著方方面面，包括臺灣芯片供應和法式早餐成本。正如我們本周所解釋的，有一種瓶頸值得特別關注，即稀有金屬和土地制約等供給側問題，這類問題有可能造成綠色能源繁榮的減緩。這些瓶頸遠非轉瞬即逝，而是有可能成為世界經(jīng)濟在未來幾年反復出現(xiàn)的特征，因為向清潔能源體系的轉型還只是剛剛起步。各國政府必須對這些市場信號作出反應，在未來十年中推動私企的巨大投資熱潮，從而提高產能。否則，他們就很難兌現(xiàn)“凈零”排放的承諾。
Scientists and activists have worried about climate change for decades. Recently politicians have shown signs of more commitment: countries accounting for over 70% of world GDP and greenhouse gases now have targets for net-zero emissions, typically by 2050. And there has been a dramatic shift in the attitude of business. Investors are demanding that firms change tack, spurred by the new reality that clean technologies are more cost-competitive. The giants of the fossil-fuel age, such as Volkswagen and ExxonMobil, are having to shift their investment plans, while clean-energy pioneers are cranking up capital spending fast. Orsted, a wind-farm champion, plans a rise of 30% this year; Tesla, an electric-car maker, a jump of 62%. Meanwhile a cool $178bn flowed into green-tinged investment funds in the first quarter of 2021.
幾十年來，科學家和活動家一直擔心氣候變化。最近，政客們也表現(xiàn)出要做出更多努力的跡象：占世界GDP和溫室氣體排放量70%以上的國家通常制定了到2050年實現(xiàn)凈零排放的目標。商界的態(tài)度也發(fā)生了巨大轉變。在清潔技術更具成本競爭力這一新現(xiàn)實的刺激下，投資者紛紛要求企業(yè)改變策略。大眾和埃克森美孚等化石燃料時代的巨頭不得不改變他們的投資計劃，而清潔能源的先驅們正在快速增加資本支出。風電大廠沃旭能源計劃今年將增加30%的資本支出；電動汽車制造商特斯拉今年將增加62%的資本支出。與此同時，在2021年第一季度，有1780億美元的資金流入了綠色投資基金。
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