Not enough money is being spent on climate, UN report says - WCAX
Not enough money is being spent on climate, UN report says
(CNN) - We are not spending enough money to prepare vulnerable countries for natural disasters caused by climate change, according to a United Nations report published Thursday.
The U.N. Environment Programme’s Annual Adaption Gap Report says the impacts of climate change are accelerating while measures to adapt to climate change in the developing world are slowing. This is leaving billions of people increasingly vulnerable to extreme heat, worsening storms and sea level rise.
The estimated costs to fully prepare low-income nations for the worst effects of a rapidly heating planet are now at least 10 times greater than the amount of money currently flowing to these regions.
The report shows the world can still prevent the mounting economic toll from climate disasters.
The issue is expected to be a key sticking point in climate negotiations at the COP 28 talks in Dubai this December.
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Related Knowledge Center: Climate economics
Climate change is now a driver of the world’s economy. The impact is profound:
- Catastrophic weather events — hurricanes, floods, droughts, high temperatures — are more frequent and more extreme. The cost can be measured in both the initial damage caused and the longer-term impact on the economy.
- Vulnerable communities are increasing climate-related investments, hardening infrastructure and taking other protective measures.
- Investment in carbon capture and storage technologies is increasingly rapidly.
- Governments are making investments and crafting regulations to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
On top of all of this is the cost of uncertainty. As the Fourth National Climate Assessment, released in 2018 by the U.S. Global Change Research Program, says, “The assumption that current and future climate conditions will resemble the recent past is no longer valid.”