CLIMATE CHANGE SAFETY IN POORER STATES TO COST UP TO $100 BILLION A YEAR - WORLD BANK

CLIMATE CHANGE SAFETY IN POORER STATES TO COST UP TO $100 BILLION A YEAR -
WORLD BANK
Adapting to the impact of global warming in developing countries is set to
cost around $75 billion to $100 billion a year over the next 40 years,
according to a new World Bank study presented today at United Nations
climate change talks in Bangkok.

The preliminary findings of the Economics of Adaptation to Climate Change
study estimated the expense under two alternative future climate scenarios -
"dry" and "wet" - with adaptation measures costing $75 billion annually in
the relatively dryer scenario and $100 billion for the wetter climate
picture every year from 2010 to 2050.

"Roughly the costs of adapting to a 2 degrees centigrade warmer world are of
the same order of magnitude as current overseas development assistance
[ODA]," said Katherine Sierra, World Bank Vice President for Sustainable
Development.

Ms. Sierra underscored the need for developing nations to prepare for
large-scale infrastructure costs, disease and huge losses in agricultural
productivity as the potential consequences of unchecked climate change.

"In this respect, access to necessary financing will be critical," she
stressed.

The report was released yesterday in Thailand at the penultimate round of
UN-backed negotiations before world leaders meet in the Danish capital,
Copenhagen, in December to hammer out a new greenhouse gas reduction treaty
to succeed the 1997 Kyoto Protocol.

The highest adaptation costs will be borne by the East Asia and Pacific
Region, followed closely by Latin America and the Caribbean, and sub-Saharan
Africa, the report found. The drier scenario requires lower adaptation costs
in all regions, except South Asia.

"Economic growth is the most powerful form of adaptation," said Warren
Evans, Director of the World Bank's Environment Department, noting that the
report suggests countries become less vulnerable to climate change as their
economies grow.

"However, it cannot be 'business as usual.' Adaptation minimizes the impacts
of climate change, but it does not address its causes," said Mr. Evans,
stressing that mitigation measures are key to "reduce [the] catastrophic
risks."

In related news, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger of California, United
States, in partnership with the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and UN
Environment Programme (UNEP) kicked off the three-day Governors' Global
Climate Summit 2 in Los Angeles today.

The gathering aims to broaden efforts to boost the growth of green
economies, increase the use of sustainable clean energy, reduce dependence
on oil and reduce greenhouse gas emissions in support of the Copenhagen
negotiations later this year.

"This powerful gathering of leaders from regions and states, supported by
business, sends a clear signal to world leaders that action on climate
change is not only necessary but is the key to a 21st century low-carbon,
resource-efficient green economy," said UNEP Executive Director Achim
Steiner.

"With less than 80 days to go to the crucial UN climate convention meeting
in Copenhagen the determination of these key sub-national leaders to be part
of the solution should in turn empower national leaders to seal the deal in
December," said Mr. Steiner.
Sep 30 2009 11:10AM
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