Global economic toll from extreme weather hits $2 trillion
In 2022 and 2023, economic damages from extreme weather events reached $451 billion. An international business organization showcased a disaster counter, highlighting how costs to the global economy are already reaching trillions of dollars. CNN refers to this as a "shadow financial crisis."
A new report from the International Chamber of Commerce has emerged, serving as a warning about climate change and natural disasters. The report's authors estimate that economic damages from recent disasters worldwide amount to trillions of dollars. Trillions with a "t".
According to the Chamber's estimates, from 2014 to 2023, the total cost of damages caused by climate-related extreme weather events globally amounted to approximately $2 trillion. This figure is roughly equivalent to the economic losses associated with the global financial crisis of 2008, as CNN points out.
The report's authors examined around 4,000 weather events across six continents over the past decade. They estimated losses from the destruction of homes, businesses, and infrastructure and the impact of extreme weather on human productivity.
They found that approximately 1.6 billion people have been affected by these extreme weather events. They emphasize that this is just the beginning and that such phenomena will likely intensify. According to the organization, from 1980-1999 to 2000-2019, there was an 83% increase in recorded climate-related disasters.
The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) is a non-governmental organization representing companies and chambers of commerce. It is the largest organization of its kind in the world.
It addressed the issue of climate change because, as its representatives explain, it is high time to urge governments and businesses to accelerate policies aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions. This process is moving too slowly.
Just as the global financial crisis was met with a swift and concerted response from world leaders, we need governments to understand that the economic impact of climate change necessitates a response of similar speed and decisiveness, said John W.H. Denton, Secretary General of ICC, to CNN.
Donald Trump will continue anti-climate policy
The American station notes that the Chamber's report was published less than a week after Donald Trump's victory in the presidential elections in the USA. In recent years, Trump not only failed to recognize the severity of the problem concerning the effects of climate change, but he also reversed and withdrew from pro-climate solutions introduced by his predecessors. He became famous for stating that rising sea levels are good because there will be more beachfront properties.
Now, he has promised to repeal climate regulations, including limits on emissions from vehicles and power plants. During his last term, he withdrew the USA from the Paris Climate Agreement, arguing that it imposes unfair economic burdens on Americans, as CNN reminds.
"The data from the past decade shows definitively that climate change is not a future problem: the productivity losses from extreme weather events are being felt in the here and now by the real economy," says John W.H. Denton, commenting on the findings of the ICC report.
