Regardless of whether you think global warming is true or a load of hog-wash, the markets are already taking it into account. Will investors pay less for companies poorly positioned to compete on a warming planet?

At this stage, most investors seem to regard global warming as a long-term problem unlikely to affect equities over the next year or two but that's likely to change, warns The Economist.

Global warming not only redefines investment, it also changes the way we have to think about risk, say Jonathan Lash and Fred Wellington in the latest edition of Harvard Business Review.

Their piece, Competitive advantage on a warming planet, says that climate change should not be treated as your standard environmental risk because it's global, it's long-term and essentially irreversible. Ignoring that could result in a company and investors pricing risk too cheaply.

Furthermore, it holds true not only for utilities and energy intensive industries but also most sectors. Which means that the most important distinctions need to be made within sectors to determine which companies hold a competitive advantage.

The piece identifies six big risks: regulatory, supply chain, product and technology, litigation, reputational and physical.

It also outlines what companies have to do get a competitive advantage, starting off with an audit of their carbon footprint, and then adjusting accordingly.

Climate change, they say, is all about risk and opportunity.