The damage caused by the climate change agriculture, infrastructure, productivity and health will cost about $38 trillion annually by 2050, according to a study funded by the German government, a figure that will almost certainly increase as human activity emits more greenhouse gases. greenhouse effect.
While the economic impact of climate change is not completely known and economists do not usually agree on its scope, the study published this Wednesday by el Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), supported by the government of Germany, stands out for the seriousness of its conclusions. He estimates that climate change will reduce the global economy’s GDP by 17% by mid-century.
Prevent than cure
According to the report, the cost of measures to limit global warming to 2°C of pre-industrial temperatures by 2050, estimated at $6 trillion, would be less than one-sixth the cost of the estimated damages caused by allowing global warming. exceed that level.
“The world’s population is poorer than it would be without climate change“, it states Leonie Wenz, a climate data researcher from Potsdam and co-author of the study. “It costs us much less to protect the climate than not to,” she added.
While previous studies have concluded that climate change could benefit economies For some countries, PIK research concluded that almost all would suffer, with poor and developing nations hardest hit.
The damage estimate is based on expected trends in the temperature and the precipitation, but it does not take into account extreme weather conditions or other climate-related disasters, such as forest fires or rising sea levels. It is also based solely on emissions already released, even though global emissions continue to rise to record levels.
There’s still more
In addition to spending too little to curb emissions that warm the climate, governments also do not allocate enough to measures to adapt to the impact of the climate. climate change.
The researchers analyzed temperature and precipitation data from more than 1,600 regions over the past 40 years, and considered which of these phenomena were costly. They then used that damage assessment, along with climate model projections to estimate future damage.
If emissions continue at the current rate and the global average temperature exceeds 4ºC, the estimated economic cost from 2050 will mean a loss of income of 60% in 2100, according to the results. Limiting the increase in temperatures to 2ºC would contain these losses by an average of 20%.
Uruguay’s opportunity with the IDB
Yesterday the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) confirmed that it will support Uruguay to consolidate itself as a leader in sustainable development in the region, after a meeting between the president of the international organization, Ilan Goldfajnand the Minister of Economy and Finance (MEF), Azucena Arbeleche.
After the meeting, where both parties committed to deepening joint work for development, the IDB confirmed its technical support to position the Uruguay as “a key player in innovation and digitalization worldwide”, as reported by the financial organization through its X account (formerly Twitter).
In this way, the IDB hopes that the MEF can benefit from the new instrument IDB Climatewhich seeks to help countries access the green debt market which allows benefits from meeting environmental objectives.
Source: Ambito
