Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Poorer states need 'billions' for global warning: World Bank

Agence France-Presse: Developing countries will need up to 100 billion dollars (80 billion euros) a year for 40 years to combat the effects of global warming, said a World Bank report released in The Hague on Tuesday. Assuming the planet is two degrees Celsius warmer by 2050, "the study puts the cost of adapting ... at 75 billion to 100 billion dollars a year" from 2010, according to an investigation commissioned by Britain, the Netherlands and Switzerland.

"What we try to show with this report is the urgency of ensuring that there are sufficient funds for adaptation" for poor countries, Dutch Development Minister Bert Koenders said on receiving the report. "It is for many countries a question of life and death," he added. "There will be no climate deal in Copenhagen if there is no financing for adaptation" -- referring to the UN climate summit to be held there in December.

East Asia, South Asia, Latin America and sub-Saharan Africa are those most affected by global warming, the report said. The European Union, Japan and the United States "realise" that money had to be found, Koenders said, adding however that funding "does not necessarily have to come from national budgets".

…Koenders said developing countries would require additional aid on top of traditional development assistance to deal with climate change. World Bank economist Sergio Margulis, who headed the study, said the costs of global warming will rise. "Development is the most powerful form of adaptation," the report said….

The interior of the Crystal Palace in London during the Great Exhibition of 1851

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