Glasgow: The 65 most vulnerable nations will see GDP drop 20 percent on average by 2050 and 64 percent by 2100 if the world heats up 2.9 degrees Celsius, according to a report released Monday at the COP26 climate talks in Glasgow.
Even if global temperature rises are capped at 1.5C, in keeping with the most ambitious Paris Agreement goal, the same countries would take a GDP hit of 13 percent by 2050 and 33 percent by the end of the century, the study commissioned by Christian Aid said.
To date, Earth’s average surface temperature has risen 1.1C compared to late 19th-century levels.
The findings from Christian Aid show that more than a third of the world’s nations urgently need help to build up resilience if their economies are to withstand the onslaught of heatwaves, drought, floods and storms made more intense and deadly by global warming.
“The ability of countries in the Global South to sustainably develop is seriously jeopardised,” said lead author Marina Andrijevic from Humboldt University in Berlin.
“Policy choices that we make right now are crucial for preventing further damage.”
Eight of the top 10 most affected countries are in Africa, with two in South America.
All 10 face GDP damage of more than 70 percent by 2100 under our current climate policy trajectory, and 40 percent even if global warming is capped at 1.5C. AFP
