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The World Bank aims to achieve a liveable planet free of poverty | Mint - Mint

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The World Bank aims to achieve a liveable planet free of poverty | Mint #AskBetterQuestions

World leaders are all too familiar with the global community’s challenges: loss of progress in our fight against poverty, an existential climate crisis, a fledgling pandemic recovery, and a crippling war on the borders of Europe. But beneath the surface, a deep mistrust is quietly pulling the Global North and South apart at a time when we need to be uniting if we are to have any hope of overcoming these intertwined crises.

Related Knowledge Center: Climate economics

State of Play

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Research Program, says, “The assumption that current and future climate conditions will resemble the recent past is no longer valid.”

More informationabout Climate economics