The global economic response to climate change: what’s the plan? – MENAFN.COM

The global economic response to climate change: what’s the plan? – MENAFN.COM

(MENAFN - AFP) World leaders participating in the virtual Earth Day summit are unanimous: fighting climate change will be good for economic growth worldwide. US President Joe Biden, Chinese President Xi Jinping and IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva were among the officials who backed calls for higher carbon taxes and massive investments in green energy to curb rising temperatures and put the world on the path to prosperity. Here is a rundown of the latest in the global effort to fight climate change: - What's at stake? - Climate change is a major threat to global growth, with perils ranging from declines in crop yields, extreme weather that devastates tourist economies, disease outbreaks and other catastrophes that would sap productivity. The effects could reduce global gross domestic product by as much as 18 percent by 2050 compared to estimates without climate change, according to a report published Thursday by Swiss Re, one of the world's largest providers of reinsurance. China could lose 24 percent of GDP in the worst-case scenario, the largest impact, while Europe could lose 11 percent and the United States around 10 percent, according to the report. The World Bank estimates that between 32 million and 132