“The real costs of adaptation are likely to be 2-3 times greater than estimates made by the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC),” according to a former co-chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Martin Parry, and his colleagues.
Evidently, the underestimated costs of adaptation would weaken UNFCCC negotiations to support the Kyoto Protocol in Copenhagen this December and, more importantly, tackle climate change effectively.
A new report published this month by the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) and the Grantham Institute for Climate Change “estimated annual global costs of adapting to climate change to be US$40-170 billion, or the cost of about three Olympic Games per year”.
How can that be? The authors found that the original “estimates were produced too quickly and did not include key sectors such as energy, manufacturing, retailing, mining, tourism and ecosystems”.
Go to the IIED website, to:
- Read the key findings of the report, concerning the UNFCCC’s underestimated adaptation costs for and negative impact on water, health, infrastructure, coastal zones, and ecosystems;
- A list of contacts to enquire further on these costs affecting various sectors (health, water, agriculture, forestry and fisheries);
- Download a copy of the report, ‘Assessing the Costs of Adaptation to Climate Change: A Review of the UNFCCC and Other Recent Estimates‘
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For an overview on where the Canadian government stands with the Kyoto Protocol, read:
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