Climate change could cost the global economy $178 trillion over the next 50 years, according to recent research conducted by professional services company Deloitte.
On the sidelines of the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting, a new report released today by Deloitte offered a grim picture of the planet’s future as a result of climate change.
The report stated that the world’s countries’ continuous failure to take effective measures to limit the negative effects of climate change will cause massive losses to the global economy of $178 trillion over the next fifty years, or a 7.6 percent cut to global gross domestic product (GDP) in the year 2070 alone.
The study further warned that if global warming reaches around 3°C toward the century’s end, the toll on human lives could be significant, impacting the most vulnerable. It will also lead to loss of productivity and employment, food and water scarcity, worsening health and well-being, and ushering in an overall lower standard of living globally.
Deloitte’s Global Turning Point Report is based on research conducted by the Deloitte Economics Institute. The report analyzed 15 geographies in the Asia Pacific, Europe, and the Americas, and found that if global leaders unite in a systemic net-zero transition, the global economy could see new five-decade gains of $43 trillion—a boost to global GDP of 3.8 percent in 2070. However, this is subject to the world’s countries committing to a gradual shift towards net zero emissions.
The report detailed four key stages for decarbonization globally:
1- The public and private sectors unite, collaborating to build effective and foundational frameworks and policies to drive actionable change.
2- Business and governmental leaders make a significant investment, sparking structural changes to the global economy that prioritize low-emissions industries and accelerate the transition to net-zero.
3- The world’s geographies approach their respective “turning points”—when the benefits of a net-zero transition begin to outweigh the costs—and ultimately drive regional net-positive growth and value.
4- Following the turning point, society realizes a greener future—where interconnected, low-carbon systems underpin a clean economy that grows at an increasingly faster rate than its carbon-intensive alternative
