Climate change mitigation 'far cheaper than inaction'

Daniela Hirschfeld in SciDev.net: Tackling the global climate crisis could reap significant economic benefits for both developed and developing countries, according to a new report. The impacts of climate change and a carbon-intensive economy cost the world around US$1.2 trillion a year — 1.6 per cent of the total global GDP (gross domestic product), states 'Climate Vulnerability Monitor: A Guide to the Cold Calculus of A Hot Planet'. For this reason, "adapting to climate change is very likely a cost-effective investment in almost all cases and should be central to any climate change policy", the report says.

The new publication was launched during the 67th session of the UN General Assembly, in New York, United States, last month (26 September). It was produced by Development Assistance Research Associates (DARA), an independent aid analysis organisation, and the Climate Vulnerable Forum, a global partnership of nations that are disproportionately affected by global warming.

The authors highlight that shifting the world economy to a low-carbon footing will cost around 0.5 per cent of GDP for the current decade. As the report points out, this is significantly lower than the actual and projected costs of responding to climate change and maintaining a carbon-intensive economy. The report warns that the impact of the expected increase in temperature and carbon-related pollution could double the actual costs to 3.2 per cent of GDP in 2030, and will cause six million deaths every year, up from 4.5 million each year....

Milo Winter's 1919 illustration for "The Ant and the Grasshopper", from Aesop's Fables