“Tackling climate crisis’ll increase global economic growth”

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), in a new joint report with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), have revealed that taking strong action to tackle the climate crisis will increase countries’ economic growth rather than damage their finances.

The report warned that a third of the global Gross Domestic Product (GDP) could be lost this century if the climate crisis runs unchecked. According to the study, setting ambitious targets on cutting greenhouse gas emissions and setting out the policies to achieve them would result in a net gain to global GDP by the end of the next decade.

The report further said that the calculation of the net gain, of 0.23 per cent by 2040, would be even greater in 2050 if it included the benefit of avoiding the devastation that not cutting emissions would wreak on the economy.

“By 2050, the most advanced economies would enjoy an increase of 60 per cent in GDP per capital growth, while by the same date lower income countries would experience a 124% rise from 2025 levels. In the shorter term, there would also be benefits for developing countries, with 175 million people lifted out of poverty by the end of the decade, if governments invest in cutting emissions now.

The UN climate chief, Simon Stiell, has expressed worries that Europe would suffer economic devastation from the climate crisis if strong action were not taken soon.

Stiell said, “Climate breakdown is a recipe for permanent recession. As disasters make more and more regions unliveable, and food production declines, millions more people will be forced to migrate, internally and across borders”.

Also, the Executive Secretary of the UNDP said the overwhelming evidence that we now have is that we are not regressing if we invest in climate transitions but see a modest increase in GDP growth, which may look small at first … but quickly grows.”