Climate change is projected to cause annual economic losses totaling $38 trillion by 2049, according to findings from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK). This will occur as extreme weather events disrupt agricultural output, diminish labor productivity, and damage infrastructure.
A study published in Nature on Wednesday indicates that global income could decline by 19% by the middle of the century due to planetary warming. The research uses data from over 1,600 regions spanning four decades to assess the forthcoming consequences of a warmer climate on economic development.
“Climate change will cause massive economic damages within the next 25 years in almost all countries,” Leonie Wenz, the PIK scientist who led the study, said in a statement.
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“We have to cut down our emissions drastically and immediately – if not, economic losses will become even bigger in the second half of the century, amounting to up to 60% on global average by 2100,” Wenz added.
The researchers said cutting emissions and limiting global warming to 2C by the end of the century would be the most cost-effective way to reduce further climate damage.
“Protecting our climate is much cheaper than not doing so, and that is without even considering non-economic impacts such as loss of life or biodiversity,” Wenz said. “We will need more adaptation efforts if we want to avoid at least some of them.”
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According to the report, countries with lower responsibility for climate change are expected to face income losses 60% higher than wealthier countries and 40% higher than countries with higher emissions. Additionally, these countries have fewer resources to cope with current impacts.
