The United Nations has released its annual economic report, placing a significant focus on the climate crisis in the context of the global economic outlook for 2024. The report highlights the projection of increased climate disasters, soaring food prices, and more extreme weather events, exacerbating existing economic challenges.
Global Economic Impact of Climate Crisis
In the World Economic Situation and Prospects 2024 report, the UN anticipates that the unfolding climate crisis and extreme weather events will have detrimental effects on agricultural output and tourism. Geopolitical instability is expected to further impact various subregions, particularly the Sahel and North Africa. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, known for his strong advocacy for climate action, notes in the report’s foreword that inadequate investment in climate action and sustainable development is contributing to rising hunger, poverty, and growing global divisions.
El Niño’s Influence on Food Prices and Agriculture
The report underlines the persistence of high food prices, with a particular impact on Africa, South Asia, and Western Asia. El Niño, a climate phenomenon causing ocean surface warming, is predicted to affect precipitation patterns in Asian countries, leading to extreme droughts or floods and adversely impacting agricultural output. The report highlights the disproportionately severe effects in countries where agriculture contributes significantly to the GDP.
Urgent Need for Climate Finance
To address the challenges posed by the climate crisis, the report emphasizes the critical priority of massively scaling up climate finance. The current level of financing falls far below the required green investment to limit temperature rise to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, as outlined in the Paris Agreement. The report estimates a need for $150 trillion by 2050 to transition to clean energies, with an annual requirement of $5.3 trillion to transform the global energy sector.
Addressing Vulnerability and Climate Adaptation
The Loss and Damage Fund, established at COP28, is identified as crucial for helping vulnerable countries cope with the impacts of climate disasters. The report recommends reducing fossil fuel subsidies, strengthening the role of multilateral development banks in climate finance, and promoting technology transfer as essential measures for global climate action. Developing countries, particularly the poorest and most vulnerable, are highlighted as facing the worst impacts of climate change and are urged to receive effective international development cooperation to protect themselves from the unfolding climate catastrophe.
SOURCE: Ref Image from The Climate Reality Project
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