Floods, other water-related disasters could cost global economy $5.6 trillion by 2050 -report

Floods, other water-related disasters could cost global economy $5.6 trillion by 2050 -report
# 29 August 2022 18:12 (UTC +04:00)

Worsening droughts, storms and torrential rain in some of the world's largest economies could cause $5.6 trillion in losses to the global economy by 2050, according to a report released on Monday, APA reports citing Reuters.

This year heavy rains have triggered floods that inundated cities in China and South Korea and disrupted water and electricity supply in India, while drought has put farmers' harvests at risk across Europe.

Such disasters are costing economies hundreds of billions of dollars. Last year's extreme droughts, floods and storms led to global losses of more than $224 billion, according to the Emergency Events Database maintained by the Brussels-based Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters.

But as climate change fuels more intense rainfall, flooding and drought in coming decades, these costs are set to soar, warns the report by engineering and environmental consultancy firm GHD.

Water – when there's too much or too little – can "be the most destructive force that a community can experience," said Don Holland, who leads GHD's Canadian water market programme.

GHD assessed the water risks in seven countries representing varied economic and climatic conditions: the United States, China, Canada, the United Kingdom, the Philippines, the United Arab Emirates and Australia. Using global insurance data and scientific studies on how extreme events can affect different sectors, the team estimated the amount of losses countries face in terms of immediate costs as well as to the overall economy.

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