Full Title: Climate Change Threatens the Stability of the Financial System
Author(s): Gregg Gelzinis and Graham Steele
Publisher(s): Center for American Progress
Publication Date: November 21, 2019
Full Text: Download Resource
Description (excerpt):
According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), humans have already caused the planet to warm by 1 degree Celsius above preindustrial levels. Catastrophic floods, droughts, wildfires, and storms are becoming all-too regular occurrences, and there is overwhelming scientific evidence that paints a clear and devastating picture of the changing climate. Under current projections, the overall social, environmental, and economic impacts of climate change could rise to catastrophic levels. One estimate suggests that if temperatures rise to 4 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels over the next 80 years, global economic losses could mount to $23 trillion per year—permanent damage that would far eclipse the scale of the 2007-2008 financial crisis. The speed and magnitude of actions taken to limit carbon emissions will determine how much these impacts can be mitigated over the coming decades