Loss of ten to eighteen percent
Climate change threatens the economy of poorer countries
4/28/2022, 4:16 am
Heat records and natural disasters have increased more and more in recent years. According to a study, the effects of climate change could plunge millions of people in economically weaker countries into poverty. This is also becoming a problem internationally.
According to a study by the rating agency S&P Global, climate change will put a strain on the global economy and hit poorer countries in particular hard. The credit watcher’s report assesses risks such as rising sea levels, heat waves, droughts and storms affecting the economies of 135 countries. Accordingly, these dangers could cost up to four percent of global economic output by the middle of the century.
The countries in South Asia that are particularly affected by the consequences of climate change – such as Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan – are even threatened with a loss of ten to 18 percent. That would be roughly three times what North America is expected to lose and ten times more than what Europe is likely to suffer.
According to S&P Global expert Roberto Sifon-Arevalo, different regions of the world are affected by climate change to varying degrees: “But what is really striking is that many of the poorer regions of the world are dependent on international aid.” According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), global warming and extreme weather are already damaging the global economy and threatening to plunge millions into poverty.
Heat records in Europe last year triggered large-scale forest fires, especially in the Mediterranean region. The world community has set itself the goal of limiting global warming to as little as 1.5 degrees compared to pre-industrial times. Germany has also anchored its contribution in a climate law.