A report commissioned by 20 countries and involving over 50 professionals in economics, policy, and science experts recently published a grim report about the effects of climate change on the world. Turns out that climate change is wiping out 1.6 percent of the world's GDP per year at the moment, and it's only going to get worse.
The humanitarian and environmental DARA Group's 331-page report titled "Climate Vulnerability Monitor: A Guide to the Cold Calculus of A Hot Planet," details how climate change leads to 400,000 deaths a year and 1.2 trillion dollars wiped off the world's GDP.
The study goes on to say that the impact could double, with climate change destroying 3.2 percent of the world's GDP by 2030...and culling 100 million people.
The bearer of most of the brunt will be poorly developed countries, which are already hit the hardest by climate change due to a lack of proper infrastructure. By 2030, they may lose as much as 11 percent of their GDP thanks to the Earth's changing climate.
Bangladesh's Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had this to say at the Climate Vulnerable Forum in New York:
"A 1 Celsius rise in temperature is associated with 10 percent productivity loss in farming. For us, it means losing about 4m tonnes of food grain, amounting to about $2.5bn. That is about 2 percent of our GDP. Adding up the damages to property and other losses, we are faced with a total loss of about 3-4 percent of GDP. Without these losses, we could have easily secured much higher growth."
The report offers an ominous look at 2030, stating that the United States could lose as much as 2 percent of its GDP by then due to climate change, and China alone could suffer $1.2 trillion in losses.
But there's still much we can do as the Dhara Ministerial Declaration of the Climate Vulnerable Forum from November 2011 said, "Standing indivisible as we are in our determination to act to bring about a resolution to the global menace of climate change."