Consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers said in a report on Tuesday that by 2035, about 32% of global semiconductor production capacity may be affected by disruptions in copper supply due to climate change, which is four times the current level. The report indicates that Chile, the world's largest producer of copper, has already slowed production due to a shortage of water resources. By 2035, most of the 17 countries that provide copper resources to the chip industry will face the risk of drought. Looking back at the last round of global chip shortages, due to the surge in demand caused by the pandemic, processing plants were shut down, causing the automobile industry to be damaged, and production lines in many industries that rely on chips were shut down. In the report, PwC project leader Glenn Burm quoted data from the US Department of Commerce as saying, “This chip shortage has caused the US economy to lose 1 percentage point of GDP growth, while Germany has lost 2.4%.” PricewaterhouseCoopers points out that if material innovation fails to adapt to climate change and affected countries fail to develop safer water supply systems, related risks will continue to increase in the future. “By 2050, around half of countries' copper supply will be at risk — no matter how fast global carbon emissions are being reduced,” the report said.

Consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers said in a report on Tuesday that by 2035, about 32% of global semiconductor production capacity may be affected by disruptions in copper supply due to climate change, which is four times the current level. The report indicates that Chile, the world's largest producer of copper, has already slowed production due to a shortage of water resources. By 2035, most of the 17 countries that provide copper resources to the chip industry will face the risk of drought. Looking back at the last round of global chip shortages, due to the surge in demand caused by the pandemic, processing plants were shut down, causing the automobile industry to be damaged, and production lines in many industries that rely on chips were shut down. In the report, PwC project leader Glenn Burm quoted data from the US Department of Commerce as saying, “This chip shortage has caused the US economy to lose 1 percentage point of GDP growth, while Germany has lost 2.4%.” PricewaterhouseCoopers points out that if material innovation fails to adapt to climate change and affected countries fail to develop safer water supply systems, related risks will continue to increase in the future. “By 2050, around half of countries' copper supply will be at risk — no matter how fast global carbon emissions are being reduced,” the report said.